When the Bombs Fell

This chapter examines how the Allied bombings of Germany affected the lives of people in the Albatross-Tauchnitz fold, particularly Max Christian Wegner and Walter Gey. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Adolf Hitler's reign, the Nazi elite gathered with thousands of party loyalists on January 30, 1943 for an evening of rousing speeches at the Berlin Sportpalast. The Allies commemorated Hitler's tenth anniversary by sending Royal Air Force Mosquito light bombers on a daylight air raid on the German capital. For Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this attack marked the beginning of the “strategic bombing” campaign they had agreed upon at the Casablanca Conference days earlier. This chapter considers Wegner's arrest and imprisonment at the height of World War II as well as Gey's efforts to make the best of the Albatross Press's ever-shrinking terrain.

Allegiances

This chapter examines how Erich Kupfer, Albatross Press's managing director in Germany, handled the pressure of being asked by the Nazi authorities about disengaging Kurt Enoch from Albatross-Tauchnitz operations. On March 12, 1938, Adolf Hitler's troops invaded Austria. Around the same time, the Leipzig finance president continued to pressure Albatross and Bernhard Tauchnitz “to dismantle the distribution of both publishers via the Jewish firm Continenta in Paris.” Kupfer was queried by financial authorities on how and when Enoch might be removed from Albatross-Tauchnitz operations without damage to the firms' overall interests—a tenuous situation that tested his allegiance. This chapter shows how Kupfer aligned Albatross and Tauchnitz with the German economy, both of which would pay the cost of disentangling Enoch out of Albatross-Tauchnitz operations. It also discusses John Holroyd-Reece's initiatives aimed at safeguarding Albatross's assets in case of war.

A Tale of Two Publishers

This chapter examines Albatross Press's acquisition of Bernhard Tauchnitz. Few Tauchnitz or Albatross readers knew the reasons behind the near demise and resurrection of Tauchnitz, or the machinations behind its sale. In book trade circles in Leipzig, one rumor that circulated was that Sir Edmund Davis, the financial weight behind Albatross, wanted to purchase Tauchnitz. The Reich Literary Chamber, charged with oversight of all publishing matters in Germany, had not only approved but also officiated over the Albatross-Tauchnitz merger. This chapter considers John Holroyd-Reece's negotiations with Oscar Brandstetter that sealed the Albatross-Tauchnitz union; the agreements that would guarantee Albatross a role in the German economy for years to come; and the role of National Socialism in the Brandstetter enterprises.

Winning the Continent

This chapter focuses on Albatross Press's efforts to win the European continent, including the increasingly nationalistic German market. On February 15, 1932, flying in the face of the economic turmoil raging in Europe, Albatross began with optimism. In a half-page advertisement in the Börsenblatt, the firm introduced the first six volumes of the Albatross Modern Continental Library to booksellers in the German-speaking world. Evidently, the exhausting work of the previous year had come to fruition: securing funding, testing printers, creating a look for the series, selecting the titles, and persuading authors, agents, and publishers to throw over Bernhard Tauchnitz for Albatross. This chapter examines how Albatross, led by Max Christian Wegner, Kurt Enoch, and John Holroyd-Reece, pursued a modern agenda that trespassed on the terrain of the British publishing establishment.

Introduction

This book explores the curious relationship between Albatross Press—a British-funded publisher of English-language books with Jewish ties—and the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler. Albatross began printing its books in Germany in May 1932, barely a year before Hitler came to power. It made its name not in the trade of mild classics but in edgy, modern British and American books. From its titles to its packaging, Albatross projected a cosmopolitan ethos at odds with German nationalism. This book tells the story of survival against the odds, of what happened when a resolutely cosmopolitan, multinational publishing house became entwined with the most destructively nationalistic culture of modern times. It asks how Albatross was allowed to print and sell its books within the nationalistic climate of Nazi Germany, became the largest purveyor of English-language paperbacks in 1930s Europe and then vanished with so little trace.

Faces of War

This chapter examines the impact of World War II on Albatross Press. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war against Germany. The onset of aggressions had immediate consequences for Albatross. With British, French, and German allegiances, the firm found itself in an unenviable position on both sides of the war. John Holroyd-Reece and other Albatross leaders were suddenly not just on opposite sides of national lines, but at cross-purposes. In World War I, Holroyd-Reece had fought for the British, and Kurt Enoch and Max Christian Wegner for the Germans; now Holroyd-Reece and Enoch stood on the same side, facing Wegner on the other. This chapter discusses the experiences and challenges faced by Albatross and its leaders as they tried to continue running their business amid the war.

Suspicion

This chapter examines the Nazi authorities' suspicion that Albatross Press was a foreign imposter and that John Holroyd-Reece was actually a German agent. Holroyd-Reece was happy with the way things were going for Albatross. The firm, operating out of Paris, had decreased its dependence on Germany. Kurt Enoch's emigration had pulled control over most Albatross-Tauchnitz distribution beyond Reich borders and increased book stocks in Parisian warehouses. Furthermore, the coming Bernhard Tauchnitz centenary gave Holroyd-Reece the perfect platform for selling books and promoting Anglo-American culture. This chapter considers the concern of Leipzig officials that Albatross was being presented as German in the Reich while actually following secret agendas abroad. It also discusses Holroyd-Reece's acquisition of more publishing houses, a move that Enoch, the Nazi authorities, and French intelligence found suspicious.

Tauchnitz Has a Rival

This chapter focuses on Albatross Press's emergence as a rival of German publishing firm Bernhard Tauchnitz. By the time Nazi officials started scrutinizing Albatross and its books, books in English had been part of the German economy for almost a century. It was Bernhard Tauchnitz that had seized on the idea of selling inexpensive English-language paperbacks throughout continental Europe. By 1931, Tauchnitz editions had grown into a thriving sector of the international book trade. When Dr. Hans Otto, the head of the Tauchnitz board, first heard rumors of the Albatross Press in late October 1931, he paid attention. This chapter examines how Bernhard Tauchnitz under Otto handled the challenges presented by Albatross, who was led by the trio of Max Christian Wegner, John Holroyd-Reece, and Kurt Enoch.

Longing

This concluding chapter reflects on the story of Albatross Press and its many contradictions. It argues that Albatross books, like others of their time, cannot be regarded as inherently subversive forces under National Socialism just because they were in English or associated with Anglo-American culture. The Albatross leaders had an admirable goal, endorsed by the British government in the mid-1930s: to keep Anglo-American books in German hands. Yet in retrospect there is the realization that the Albatross leaders opened themselves up to self-censorship and compromise, to realize their personal, economic, and propaganda goals. It seems at least plausible that John Holroyd-Reece, who spoke at least four languages, provided information in some capacity to British intelligence. It is also possible that Holroyd-Reece and Wolfgang Krause-Brandstetter were both renegades, working in some small part of their lives for the same cause. This chapter ends by looking at how Holroyd-Reece, Kurt Enoch, and Max Christian Wegner fared in various publishing landscapes in the postwar years.

Homecoming

This chapter focuses on Albatross Press's return to the German publishing world. On March 17, 1949, Kurt Enoch returned to Germany for practical rather than personal reasons. He and Victor Weybright, his partner at American Penguin, had established a formidable partnership in New York, and like so many other British and American publishers they were looking to expand their European horizons. In 1949 Enoch focused on getting English-language books onto continental bookshelves. He got significant help from the Economic Cooperation Administration, formed in 1949 by American and allied governments to lend support to American publishers. This chapter examines how Albatross and Bernhard Tauchnitz fared in the postwar German market, with particular emphasis on the competition faced from other publishers.