Author: Erika Mann

Erika Mann (1905-1969) used journalism, performance and documentary writing to oppose Germany's authoritarian government after 1933. Trained as an actor, she co-founded the literary-political cabaret Die Pfeffermühle in Munich, wrote most of its texts and appeared on stage. Her 1938 book School for Barbarians investigated how state control shaped family life, schools and youth organizations. Working in exile, she drew on refugee interviews, newspapers, original documents and textbooks. Modern Age Books issued the American edition, which sold 40,000 copies; Querido published a German-language version, Zehn Millionen Kinder, in Amsterdam that same year. Mann also reported from Spain with her brother Klaus, and the pair later produced Escape to Life and The Other Germany. She contributed to German-language BBC broadcasts in 1940, then became closely involved with her father Thomas Mann's literary estate, including the publication of his letters.