Justin Steinfelds Prager Exil-Roman „Ein Mann liest Zeitung“
On Justin Steinfeld’s Prague Exile Novel A Man Reads the Newspaper

Summary/Abstract: The text deals with the life and journalistic activities of Justin Steinfeld during his exile in Prague, as well as with the novel that reflects this exile in literary form. After fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, Steinfeld became a leading editor and critic at the Prague journal Die Wahrheit, advocating pacifism, democracy, and anti-nationalism. He rejected Zionism as another form of nationalism and critically assessed German exile literature and theatre, promoting a “sociological dramaturgy” that engaged politics without party propaganda. His novel portrays a Jewish exile in Prague whose daily newspaper reading becomes a framework for reflecting on fascism, appeasement, and moral collapse in 1930s Europe. Combining satire, montage, and linguistic experimentation, the novel is regarded as a ma jor work of German exile literature and a powerful chronicle of its time.

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