From Germany to Brazil (1938): Margarethe Levy
摘要
This chapter deals with Margarethe and Hugo Levy’s emigration to Brazil. I provide a sensitive description of what Margarethe, like other German Jews, and specifically those from Hamburg, experienced in the years preceding her departure, in the context of increasing anti-Semitic violence. I describe her preparations and the way she organized the couple’s emigration, including the way she negotiated with the Nazi authorities. As I did for Aracy in the preceding chapter, I paint a portrait of her social origins, her identifications, and her way of being a woman, especially after her marriage, comparing the two friends, wherever I find it appropriate. The encounter between the two women allows me to examine how Aracy, as an employee of the Brazilian consulate, positioned herself in relation to society and to German Jews. Ultimately, her initiatives in favor of Margarethe and her husband, emerging from everyday routine, reveal both the “normal” and “exceptional” components of her German life.