Introduction

Last-minute emigration

A letter from Bruno Krusch to Wilhelm Levison, 16.05.1939

Although he was being urgently advised to emigrate, Wilhelm Levison was reluctant to leave Germany. He was deeply rooted in Bonn and had thus far managed to cope with the oppression of NS rule, nevertheless pursuing his research and publishing his results in foreign journals. He also continued to work for the MGH after their transformation in the „Reichsinstitut für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde“ in 1935. With his help, the first fascicle of the new MGH edition of Gregory of Tours' Historia appeared in 1937. In the same year, the Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde (society for Rhinish history) published another edition that had been produced with Levison’s collaboration, the Dialogus miraculorum by Caesarius of Heisterbach. Neither publication mentioned his name.

Levison continued to ignore the increasingly repressive and threatening situation for Jews as long as possible. Additionally, he was held back from emigration by the fact that his wife was caring for her ailing father, who died after long sickness in May 1938. The November pogroms against Jews in Germany in 1938, however, made it finally clear to him that he and his wife were no longer safe in Bonn. In England, the pogroms caused a wave of readiness to help the Jews. Levison had connections in Durham, where the university had awarded him a honorary doctor title for his research in 1931, and with the help of his colleague Bertram Colgrave, he was invited to come as a honorary fellow of the university. With this invitation, the Levisons were able to "regularly" emigrate to England in April 1939, a few months before the beginning of the Second World War. Their first stop there was in London with Levison's brother Arthur, who had moved there several years previously.

Levison’s account of his forced emigration at the age of 63 is short and dry: „After completing all the necessary formalities for emigration, he [W. Levison] and his wife left the city of Bonn on 16 April 1939, where they had lived so many joyful days. The next day, they arrived in London, and on April 25 they were in Durham. They had been allowed to take with them their household goods and the library that they had accumulated in the course of their lives‘ work (each at the price of 10 Reichsmark). With the means of a research fellowship of the University of Durham, of which Levison is since then a honorary fellow, and with the generous help of his brother Arthur, they have managed to establish themselves in a new home and he has been able to return to his scholarly work.“ (Levison, Familie, S. 65).

Among the documents in Levison’s Nachlass is a letter from Bruno Krusch dated to May 1939. Because of his increasingly poor eyesight, Krusch was unable to write letters himself, but he still always signed them personally. Krusch had accompanied Levison throughout his career, bringing him to the MGH 40 years ago, schooling him to become a specialist for early-medieval Latin, and eventually himself becoming increasingly dependent on his scholarly help in the course of the years. Now 82 years old, the old master, who was otherwise known for his mercilessly sharp tongue, reveals his personal concern for the fate of his former disciple, expressing his relief that Levison was in safety.

Transcription

Hannover, d[en] 16.V.39.

Wiesenstr. 24

Lieber Herr Levison:

Wie ich mich über Ihren heutigen Brief gefreut habe, können Sie sich kaum vorstellen. Ich glaubte, Sie würden sich nach Belgien wenden, aber in Durham, wo Sie Ehrendoktor sind, haben Sie es ja viel besser getroffen. So hat sich Ihr Schicksal zum Guten gewendet. Meine herzliche Gratulation Ihnen und Ihrer lieben Gattin dazu. Sie kondolieren mir auch so teilnehmende Worte zu dem Tode meines jüngsten Bruders. Er hatte die ganze Intelligenz und die ganze Energie meines Vaters geerbt, und mit der Familie betrauert auch die Wissenschaft sein plötzliches Hinscheiden. Sein grosses Werk über die Gesteinkunde bleibt nun ein Torso.

Sorgen Sie doch bitte dafür, dass zunächst meine Präfatio schnell gedruckt wird. Heinrich kann als Direktor einer Volksbibliothek so weit kommen wie als Archivdirektor. Über den verlogenen Bösewicht in Göttingen verliere ich kein Wort.

Herzliche Grüße an Sie und Ihre liebe Gattin und weiter viel Glück.

Ihr Krusch.

Abs: Geh[eimer] Archivrat Dr. Krusch.