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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 27 June 2019

Germany hands Israel thousands of Kafka confidant’s papers

By DAVID RISING the 20th century. He also
Associated Press brought “Kafkaesque” into
BERLIN (AP) — German the English language to
authorities on Tuesday describe bizarre, illogical
handed over to Israel some or nightmarish situations
5,000 documents kept by like the ones Kafka wrote
a confidant of Franz Kafka, about. After the Nazis oc-
a trove whose plight could cupied the Sudetenland
have been plucked from region of Czechoslovakia
one of the author’s surreal in 1938, Brod fled to escape
stories. persecution with the en-
The papers returned in- tire collection to what was
clude a postcard from then British-ruled Palestine.
Kafka from 1910 and per- When Brod died, he left his
sonal documents kept by personal secretary Esther
Max Brod, which experts Hoffe in charge of his liter-
say provide a window into ary estate and instructed
Europe’s literary and cul- her to transfer the Kafka
tural scene in the early 20th papers to an academic in-
century. stitution.
They are among some Instead, she kept the docu-
40,000 documents, includ- ments for the next four de-
ing manuscripts, corre- cades and sold some, like
spondence, notebooks the original manuscript of
and other writings that Israel’s ambassador in Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, holds documents prior to a handing over Kafka’s “The Trial,” which
once belonged to Brod, ceremony at the embassy of Israel in Berlin, Germany. fetched $1.8 million at auc-
which are being brought Associated Press tion in 1988. She kept some
together again in Israel’s invent by himself a better After the formal handover a while in Berlin, was close items in a bank vault in Tel
National Library. They had plot.” of the documents from friends with Brod, himself an Aviv, some in Switzerland,
ended up in bank vaults in The documents recovered Germany’s Federal Crimi- accomplished writer. Short- and others at her apart-
Switzerland and Tel Aviv, a in Wiesbaden have little nal Police at the Israeli ly before his untimely death ment in Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv apartment and in to do with Kafka himself, ambassador’s residence at 40 of tuberculosis in 1924, When she died in 2008, the
a storage facility in Wies- but make the Brod collec- in Berlin, National Library Kafka bequeathed his writ- collection went to her two
baden, Germany, where tion complete and shine a chairman David Blum- ings to Brod, reportedly tell- daughters, who fought to
police found them tucked light on Brod and his circle, berg pledged to make the ing him to burn them all un- keep it but eventually lost
among forged Russian which included Kafka and whole collection available read. a battle in Israel’s Supreme
avant-garde artworks. other writers, Litt said. to everybody. Instead, Brod published Court in 2016. The court sid-
“I think he (Kafka) would re- “This is an important chap- “Everything will be pub- much of the collection, ed with the country’s Na-
ally be amused,” said Na- ter in Max Brod’s estate,” lished, everything will be including the novels “The tional Library, whose law-
tional Library archivist Ste- Litt said. “It’s always good digitized, so we can share it Trial,” The Castle,” and yers had argued the Kafka
fan Litt, who helped iden- for researchers to have as with the world,” he said. “Amerika,” helping to post- papers were “cultural as-
tify the papers recovered complete a picture as pos- Kafka, a Bohemian Jew humously establish Kafka as sets” that belonged to the
in Germany. “He couldn’t sible.” from Prague who lived for one of the great authors of Jewish people.q

Beth Chapman, co-star of bounty hunter reality TV, dies

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLE- difficulty breathing and way,” he told The Associ-
HER passed out momentarily, ated Press at the time.
Associated Press Wood-Sword said. She The wedding took place
HONOLULU (AP) — Beth regained consciousness two days after the death
Chapman, the wife and when emergency work- of Duane Chapman’s
co-star of “Dog the Boun- ers arrived at her Honolulu 23-year-old daughter, Bar-
ty Hunter” reality TV star home and gave her oxy- bara Katy Chapman, who
Duane “Dog” Chapman, gen. Doctors decided to died in a car accident
died on Wednesday. put her in a medically in- near her home in Fairbanks,
A family spokeswoman, duced coma in a Honolulu Alaska. The couple decid-
Mona Wood-Sword, said in hospital to spare her pain ed to go forward with the
a statement that Chapman while treating her, Wood- wedding to celebrate her
died early Wednesday at Sword said. life. The wedding was fea-
Queen’s Medical Center Born Alice Elizabeth Smith tured in an episode of the
after an almost 2-year bat- in Denver, Chapman had A&E series “Dog the Bounty
tle with cancer. She was 51. lived in Honolulu since 1989. Hunter,” which followed
Chapman was diagnosed In this Wednesday, June 5, 2013, file photo, Duane “Dog” In 2006, she and Duane the duo’s exploits in appre-
Chapman, right, and Beth Chapman present the award for
with throat cancer in Sep- CMT performance of the year at the CMT Music Awards at Chapman, the self-pro- hending people who have
tember 2017 after getting Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. claimed world’s best boun- avoided arrest warrants.
a nagging cough checked Associated Press ty hunter, married during a In 2007, Hawaii lawmakers
out. A tumor was removed “This is the time she would today, she hiked the stair- sunset ceremony at a Big honored the crime-fighting
and she was declared can- wake up to go hike Koko way to heaven. We all love Island resort after being to- couple for their work cap-
cer-free. But in November Head mountain,” Duane you, Beth. See you on the gether for 16 years. turing criminals and giving
2018, she was diagnosed Chapman posted on Twit- other side.” “I’ve already been cuffed them hope for a better way
with stage four lung cancer. ter early Wednesday. “Only On Friday, Chapman had and shackled by Beth any- of life..q