Ariel Center for
Policy Research

A JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND THE ARTS

 

NATIV    Volume Thirteen    Number 2 (72)   March 2000    Ariel Center for Policy Research

 

SYNOPSIS

 


"Address Unknown"

Kressmann Taylor

Max Eisenstein, a German-born Jew, and Martin Shulze, a German-born Aryan, are longstanding partners in a flourishing gallery in San Francisco, which deals in paintings and art objects.  Toward the end of 1932, Martin decides to return to Germany with his wife and three children and become established in his homeland as a non active partner in the gallery.

At this point begins the story by Kressman Taylor, “Address Unknown,” which consists of an exchange of letters between the two partners - the Jew who remains in San Francisco and his German partner who now lives in the outskirts of Munich.

Two months after Martin’s return to Germany, Hitler comes to power. Martin is appointed to a senior position in a German bank and is enthused by the atmosphere of upheaval in the country and becomes a devoted Nazi. Max’s sister Griselle, a young actress who in the past was the beloved of Martin the family man, prepares for her part in a play that is to be staged in Berlin. Max asks his friend to watch out for her.

The Nazi audience drives Griselle the Jewess from the stage, and she escapes from Berlin with storm troopers on her trail. When she comes to the door of Martin’s house to ask for refuge, he turns her away, and members of the storm troopers murder her in his garden.

A letter by Max to his sister is returned to him, and on it the postal marking: Address Unknown. Fearing for his sister’s fate, Max writes to his longtime friend and asks him to find out what has become of Griselle. When Max learns of the manner of Griselle’s death, he begins to send Martin fabricated letters that are likely to raise the Gestapo’s suspicions. Max’s last letter to Martin is returned to San Francisco, stamped with the postal marking:  Address Unknown.

Thus the Nazi curtain of blood descends upon Martin and his family.

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