After the Nazi seizure of power, Nobel laureate Thomas Mann (1875–1955) left Germany and lived in exile—first in southern France, then from September 1933 in Switzerland, and from 1938 in the USA. There, he continued his fight against Hitler and National Socialism through interviews and speeches. His greatest public impact came with the 58 radio addresses "German Listeners!" broadcast by the BBC in London from 1940 to 1945, mostly monthly, to Germany.
In these mostly self-delivered speeches, Mann condemned the German war effort, reported on Nazi crimes, and called on listeners to free themselves from the regime. After the war, he spoke of Germany’s "terrible collective guilt." Listening to these broadcasts was dangerous—punishable by death—yet they became a powerful voice of resistance and a plea for democracy and human dignity.
In his lecture, Manfred Görtemaker outlines Thomas Mann’s life and analyzes his political thought and actions in exile. Dilan Graf and Kilian Struck read selected excerpts from the radio addresses.