THE STORY OF OTTLA KAFKA, SISTER OF FRANZ KAFKA.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”- Martin Luther King Jr.
Franz Kafka was
born in 1883 and died in 1924, and some of his most famous works were published
posthumously. It is believed that he destroyed some important manuscripts,
fearing his readers might not like them. He also left instructions for all of
his work to be burned after his death, which his friend Max Brod disobeyed.
Kafka's writing style is distinct, unique,
and, in a way, unusual. It is
characterised by its particular atmosphere and unsettling imagery. This is
precisely the reason for the birth of the term "Kafkaesque", which is
used to describe situations that are bizarre, illogical, and oppressive.
Today, I will not be speaking about
Metamorphosis, The Trial or The Castle or about the subject matter of his short
stories. My mind goes to Ottla Kafka, his younger sister, for reasons which
most of us don't know. In the US, I read a book on Ottla and also read some
letters that Kafka and Ottla exchanged. The letters to Ottla reveal a new
Kafka, hitherto unknown to the readers of his books. Through his letters, Kafka
is unbelievably compassionate, helpful, and frequently humorous. As a brother,
he provides a wonderful company to his sister Ottla. Kafka wrote to Ottla for nearly 25 years,
till his death, the only person in whom he had entire faith.
Franz Kafka belonged to a German-speaking
Jewish family originally from Germany, which had settled in Czechoslovakia. Like Austria and many other
countries of Europe, Czechoslovakia also had a sizeable population of
German-speaking people. Kafka's father was a rich businessman of Prague. Franz
Kafka had a complicated relationship with his father, which significantly
influenced his writing.
Kafka often felt
alienated and oppressed by his father's domineering personality. Kafka disliked
his parents because his father was autocratic and his mother supported him.
Many critics believe that this lack of emotional support became pivotal in
shaping the literary themes of Kafka. Apart from this, Kafka also had a
deep-seated fear of inadequacy and societal rejection, often stemming from a
difficult relationship with his father that also brought a sense of alienation
in his personality. He also feared physical and mental collapse, which is
reflected in his literary works, particularly in "The Metamorphosis".
Add to that, he also struggled with social anxiety, insomnia, and other health
issues, which further contributed to his anxieties. He also suffered repeated
illnesses due to tuberculosis, which finally proved fatal for him. Antibiotics
had not arrived in the world then.
Kafka also had
ethical concerns about eating animals. Accordingly, he maintained a strict
vegetarian diet. Franz was somewhat terror-stricken by his father's behaviour,
a fact that made him seek emotional support from Ottla, his younger sister.
Ottla encouraged her brother towards reading and writing when his father wanted
him to join his business. Like her brother, Ottla also had a permanent conflict
with her father. It was Ottla who temporarily housed her brother, Franz, in her
house, so that he could write in peace and recover from his tuberculosis. Kafka
never married.
Ottla (real name Ottilie) was born in 1892.
Franz's two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy before Franz was
seven. He had three sisters: Gabriele ("Elli") (1889–1942), Valerie
("Valli") (1890–1942) and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1892–1943).
All three were murdered in the Holocaust of World War II by Nazi Germany after
the invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia.
WHY GERMANY INVADED CZECHOSLOVAKIA
In his book Mein Kampf (published in 1925), Adolf Hitler advocated the need for
Lebensraum (living space) for the German people. Lebensraum meant occupying new
lands to create one nation for the prosperity of the Germans. In a way, it was
also meant to do away with some impositions put on Germany under the Treaty of
Versailles that brought an end to World War I. Accordingly, Adolf Hitler
(1889-1945), the leader of Nazi Germany, put all his energy into creating a
'Greater Germany', which included all German-speaking areas of Europe. Once in
power from 1933, Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy that aimed to
recover Germany's territorial losses following the Treaty of Versailles.
Hitler started
the process of annexation of the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia which had
a German-speaking population. The Munich Conference concluded that the
Sudetenland territory would be ceded to Germany. In addition, Hitler would take
over portions of Czechoslovakia provided he did not seek further expansion. The
Czechoslovakian government was told that it could challenge Hitler to war, but
it would do so without any support. In 1938, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. In
the Munich Agreement of September 1938, Britain, France, and Italy agreed to
recognise Germany's claim over the Sudetenland.
Possibly, this was an appeasement done by countries that never wanted to
develop again a World War I-like situation in Europe. In March 1939, Hitler
invaded and occupied the Bohemian and Moravian regions of Czechoslovakia,
Slovakia became a German client state, and Hungary and Poland grabbed what was
left of the old Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was under German occupation from
September 30, 1938, until May 8, 1945, with the end of World War II in Europe.
The expansionist
policies of Germany under Adolf Hitler were intertwined with Nazi racial
ideology, which viewed certain populations as inferior and deemed them unfit to
live in the territories that the Nazis coveted. This ideology fueled the
Holocaust, the systematic genocide of European Jews. Hitler also invaded
Austria. Hitler's aggressive foreign policy resulted in the outbreak of World
War II in September 1939.
During the Holocaust, the Germans and their
collaborators killed approximately 263,000 Jews who had resided on the
territory of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1938.
THE DARING ACT OF OTTLA KAFKA
Born on October
29, 1892, in Prague, Ottla was an independent, spirited woman. Despite being
nearly a decade younger, she shared a deep bond with her brother Franz Kafka.
Franz often entrusted her with his thoughts, once writing, "You are the
only one who understands my chaos." Ottla defied societal norms, working
on her family’s farm while Franz pursued his passion for writing. Their letters
reveal a relationship filled with warmth and understanding.
With the
encouragement of her brother and despite opposition from her parents, Ottla
pushed through her own career choice and in 1920, she married a non-Jewish
Czech (Christian). In the following years, Ottla gave birth to their two
daughters: Vera (1921) and Helene (1923).
In 1942, when the
Holocaust began to tear lives apart, Ottla divorced her non-Jewish husband,
Joseph David, to shield him and their two daughters from Nazi persecution. Her
selfless act, however, placed her in even greater danger. Very soon, Ottla was
deported to the concentration camp in Terezín, where she worked as a caregiver
in an infant home. It was an orphanage which had Jewish children. On October 7,
1943, she volunteered to accompany a group of orphaned children from the Terezín
(Theresienstadt) ghetto to the Gas Chambers. Ottla chose compassion over
self-preservation and entered the Gas Chambers in Auschwitz with the children,
refusing to abandon them. Survivor accounts tell of Ottla’s comforting presence
on the transport—holding hands, singing Czech lullabies, and offering solace
until the very end. Ottla and the children were murdered upon their arrival at
Auschwitz.
Ottla’s letters
to Franz, preserved by her daughters, provide a glimpse into her tender and
resilient spirit. Ottla’s legacy lives on through her stories, which highlight
unprecedented bravery and selflessness during one of history’s darkest periods.
A memorial plaque at Kafka's family grave commemorates Ottla and her sisters,
who were also killed in concentration camps.
In the 2024 film," The Glory of
Life" (German: Die Herrlichkeit des
Lebens), Alma Hasun has played the role of Ottla Kafka. Directed by Judith
Kauffman, the film centres on the love story of Franz Kafka and Dora Diamant.
( Avtar Mota)
PS
Approximately six
million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators
during the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler, as the leader of the Nazi Party, was the
central figure responsible for initiating and overseeing the persecution and
extermination of Jews in Europe. The Holocaust was a systematic and organised
act of genocide, driven by a hateful ideology that targeted Jewish people for
their perceived race and led to the murder of nearly two-thirds of all Jews in
Europe.
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