Tags: Käthe Leichter

This two-woman play, which includes quotations from the historical protagonists, has been performed in German and English. In April 2019 the play was on tour in the United States, with a performance at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City. Käthe Leichter (1895–1942) became known as the first director of the women’s department in the Vienna Chamber of Labor. In 1938 she was arrested by the Gestapo, then imprisoned in Ravensbrück concentration camp, and murdered in 1942. Marie Jahoda (1907–2001) achieved worldwide recognition mainly as the author of the study, “The Unemployed of Marienthal.” She was imprisoned by the Austrian Fascists in 1937, but after some foreign appeals she was released on the condition that she leave the country immediately. She continued her work in Great Britain and the United States. These two pioneering Jewish academics were arrested for their political activities as Social Democrats, but Jewish political prisoners were treated more harshly than non-Jews.