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THE SOUTHERN IS R A E L I T E
6
Franz Werfel — Europe s Ghandi
An Interview with the Great Humanitarian
By EGON MICHAEL
Vienna. The fourth floor of an apartment
house. On the door glitter two brass plates:
Mahler and Werfel. You enter a simple
anteroom, in which white varnished furni
ture flanks the walls. Here, in the center
of the city, with a view over the roofs,
lives Frank Werfel, the poet. In appear
ance he does not seem to fit in with our
time. The broad rimmed soft hat, the black
artist’s tie, the old-fashioned vest stamp
him a typical Bohemian. Yet this Bohemian
is a man of extraordinary capacity for
work. In less than three months of unin
terrupted labor, Werfel wrote his latest
novel, a volume of eight hundred pages.
Almost without intermission, he followed
it up with a drama, “Reich Gottes in Boh-
men,” when he finished in five weeks.
When his “Barbara,” or as the American
edition is called “The Pure in Heart,” ap
peared, Werfel, the aloof poet, who feels
best when left in peace in his ivory tower,
found himself the center of a heated con
troversy. In this novel, Werfel attempts to
penetrate into the deepest recesses of
Catholicism and succeeded so well in de
scribing the religious views of the old gov
erness, Barbara, that fanatic chauvinists
read in his sincere approach to the Catho
lic religion an escape from Judaism. Stories
were published in Jewish newspapers that
Werfel (who is married to the widow of
Gustav Mahler, a non-Jewess) had ac
cepted Catholicism. The poet denied these
aspersions most vigorously. But when the
Vienna Burgtheater produced his drama in
which the author occupies himself again
with the religious idea—this time from a
political aspect—the rumors of his conver
sion were resumed.
We discussed these rumors. Werfel spoke
of them in a detached yet serious vein.
There is in his melodious voice an unfal
tering note of patience, of forgiveness, of
human understanding. In his early forties,
Werfel impresses one as unusually mature
and contemplative personality, utterly
without pose and far removed from the
petty jealousies of the professional liter
ary circle.
"It would be wrong to assume that I try
to solve or even touch upon the problem of
conversion. The idea that I have aban
doned the Jewish faith is totally incorrect.
Religion, as such, preoccupies me very
much. I have dealt with it in several of
my works and l intend to give it more at
tention. I believe that 1 would feel more
comfortable in an era that would come
closest to the year 50 after Christ, the
period of the beginning of Christianity.
Then the Jewish and the Christian ethos
were blended in one wonderful idea. I have
tried to describe the era in mv “Paul
Among the Jews.”
Once embarked on the topic of religion,
Werfel does not have to be coaxed to
speak. One realizes that it is uppermost
in his mind. The poet continued:
The Seven Arts Feature Syndicate and
The Southern Israelie present the first
interview granted by Frank Werfel, one
of Europe’s outstanding writers and
spiritual leaders, to a newspaper corre
spondent. In an intimate, informal con
versation, Werfel discusses religion and
his own method of work.
FRANZ WERFEL
“The views of the revolutionaries (of
Bohemia) under the leadership of John
Huss, who tried to reform the Church,
were undoubtedly rooted in the ideas of
original Christianity. At that time, polit
ical events already influenced religious
struggles. In both camps—among the Cath
olics and the reformers—idealism predomi
nated. Today I am convinced that every
idealistic politician is doomed to fall. Pol
itics represents the attempt of different
groups to obtain power. Whoever wants to
harmonize politics and religious morals is
either self-deluded or a tragic figure. That
is why political cynicism always triumphs
over idealism.”
it liueiesieu me to Know Weriers mo
of work. Until I met him I had been und
the impression that the author of “Verd
was a slow, meticulous writer, with whe
the writing of a novel or play consum
many years of study and preparatic
Thus, like a curious flapper, I asked hii
How do you write?”
Werfel did not smile superciliously. N
did he try to avert a serious answer
some shallow witticism. In a matter
fact, yet warm voice, he explained:
believe that a writer’s creation is the resi
of long', unsystematic work. I do not ,
cupy myself with only one project or e
one sketch at a time. A great deal of ma
rial comes under the sun of conscious*,
and then glides away mysteriously,
adventure or some incident suddenly brir
it back and ferilizes it, suddenly shifts
into what I call the productive sphere. Oi
ere, the work takes shape almost by
self. I tiptoe around the idea, and try mv
utmost not to project myself on the ideas
that are growing organically. This is per
haps the most difficult phase of the sub
conscious development of creative work.
The author must restrain himself from
stamping his personality on the structure
of his work and the characterization of his
personnel. The work must be protected
from the interference of the creator; the
material must develop by itself; the char
acters must grow out of themselves. Only
then may the author be permitted to begin
his manual work.”
Werfel is recognized today as the out
standing post-war literary figure of Central
Europe. Born in Prague some forty-five
years ago, he began writing quite early,
but found himself only after the World
War, which he opposed from the very
beginning.
For the last ten years he has been living
sporadically in Hamberg, Leipzig and Vi
enna. Shifting from the light, often gro
tesque, literary output of his earlier years,
Werfel has gradually become the great
humanitarian. His leitmotif is a lamenta
tion over the brutality of our time, and one
great cry of yearning for the new person
ality and a Paradisian future. His is a
Tolstoyan confession of guilt, a pledge oi
purification and a longing for liberation and
purity. His ethical personality expresses
itself ecstatically but never fanatically.
There is in him the fervor of a prophet
who longs for the amelioration and redemp
tion of the world, but who never speaks
with the self-righteousness of the reformer.
If I try to define the literary (that is
hardly the word) orientation of his work,
it is because Franz Werfel the man is iden
tical with Werfel the author. In what can
be regarded as his program poem, which
he composed four years before the confla
gration that almost destroyed Europe, Y er-
fel wrote: “Never again will I laugh at a
human face; never again will I judge a
man’s fate . . . From the most repulsive
face God’s light may emanate.”
There is no doubt that Werfel’s art re
jects nationalism for romanticism, and
places itself at the service of mankind.
I tried to get Werfel’s reaction to the
Jewish problem in Austria, the future o
Zionism and the Jewish contribu ion
world culture. He smiled—despite he nu
bility of his face, it seemed to m 7P 1 •'
ingly. “The Jews,” he remarked P ; ien
“are facing the same problem as ,e ^
of humanity. It is true that the •
of this age hits them harder tha: 111
others, because they are weaker
protected by political machinery,
this very helplessness lies their >
Were they to imitate those who
substitute uniform laws for jus
who use guns to enforce mora
could not escape persecution. The
merely descend (Continued on I
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