Peter Demant

Peter Demant
Born	Peter Demant August 22, 1918(1918-08-22) Innsbruck, Austria
Died	December 11, 2006(2006-12-11) Moscow, Russia
Pen name	Vernon Kress
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer, essayist
Language	Russian
Nationality	Austrian, Soviet, Russian
Period	1991–2006
Notable work(s)	“Zekameron of the XX Century” («Зекамерон XX века»), a memoir “My First Life” («Моя первая жизнь»), a memoir
Spouse(s)	Irina Vernaya

Peter Demant (in Russian - Петр Зигмундович Демант) (literary pseudonym - Vernon Kress (in Russian - Вернон Кресс) (1918, Innsbruck, Austria - 2006, Moscow, Russia) - Russian writer and public figure.

Family

Peter Demant was born to an assimilated Jewish family.^[1][2] His mother, Paula Schweizer-Demant (1896–1941) in her youth was a famous writer Peter Altenberg's intimate friend.^[3]Peter Altenberg dedicated two books to her: "Nachfechsung" (1916) and "Vita ipsa" (1917).^[4][5][6][7] Yet in 1917 she married a doctor and a career military officer in the Austro-Hungarian (later – Austrian) army, Siegmund Demant (1887–1942), and moved to Innsbruck, Austria, and later to Natters. Zigmund Demant was born in Ternopil (now in the Ukraine) to a family of a local lawyer, Moritz Demant, who moved to Czernowitz not later than 1898, and was working there as a finanicial adviser (Oberrechnungsrat). Zigmund Demant was studying in Czernowitz, Bukovina (currently Ukraine,^[8] and in the Vienna university from 1914. He appeared in a novel "Radetzky March" by Joseph Roth (1932).^[9][10][11] His sister, Charlotte Eisler-Demant (1894–1970) was married to a composer Hanns Eisler. Demants were leading bohemian lifestyle. Their close friend was ballerina Grete Wiesenthal.^[12] In 1919 Demants settled in Czernowitz in the Greater Romania by then.

Biography

4-month old Peter with his sister Erni Zita. December 16, 1918

Paula Demant with the kids, Peter and Erni Zita. August 22, 1919

Father Zigmund Demant with Peter. August 2, 1921

Father Zigmund Demant with Peter. 1921

From left: Erni Zita Demant, Zigmund Demant and Peter Demant. 1930

Peter Demant dedication to his sister Erni Zita in the book "First Life": "To the hero of this book, my sister Erni, with an Infinitive love"

Peter Demant spent his childhood and youth in Czernowitz. He studied at a German secondary school, then at the Universities of Brno, Czechoslovakia, and Aachen, Germany. In 1939, when North Bukovina became part of the Soviet Union, he worked at the local museum of Natural History.

On June 13, 1941, he was arrested by the NKVD and on June 18 he was exiled to Siberia ^[13][14][15] along with his family, which perished on the way: mother Paula and his mother's second husband Arthur. Later, during the German occupation his father Dr. Siegmund Demant, his new wife, Gisela, and an infant daughter, Gerda, perished in a Nazi concentration camp too.^{[16][17][18][19]} On the way to Siberia Peter Demant escaped, but was caught 5 months later, accused of spying for Austria, and sentenced to 10 years in a hard labor camp, plus additional 5 years of exile.

Although being freed in 1953 on an amnesty, the KGB made him work as a loader in the seaport of Magadan in the vicinity of Siberian peninsula Kamchatka, for 23 years. This, despite having two University degrees, possessing several languages, and technical skills that were at the time scarce in that region. While staying in Siberia Peter kept a Post Restante address and was in touch with his sister Erni-Zita Rauchwerger in Israel and with many of his friends who supplied him with the latest books, musical records and news of the world and family. Eventually Peter was allowed to return to European Soviet Union, to the Crimean region.

Peter then married Irina Vechnaya, and therefore was able to leave Crimea for Moscow, where his wife resided. All the charges against him were dropped in 1991, and he was able to travel abroad. He travelled throughout the world - Far East, Africa, Middle East, he repeatedly visited surviving members of his family - his sister Erni-Zita in Ramat Gan, Israel, and his niece - Erni's daughter, Dr. Tamar Erika Ben-Ami in the United States.

Peter Demant was named an honorable member of the Russian society “Memorial,” dedicated to recording and publicizing Soviet Union’s totalitarian past and human rights abuses.

Literary works

• “Aunt Sarah’s Mirror” («Зеркало тети Сары»), a novel
• “Montana’s Gold” («Золото Монтаны»), a novel
• “In Passing” («Мимоходом»), a memoir
• “My First Life” («Моя первая жизнь»), a memoir
• “My Three Steamships” («Мои три парохода»), a memoir
• “Zekameron of the XX Century” («Зекамерон XX века»), a memoir
• Short story and essay collections: “Idol” («Идол»), “Terekhov’s Career” («Карьера Терехова»), “Siberian Mirages” («Сибирские миражи»)

References

1. ^ Joseph Roth «Radetzkymarsch»: der jüdische Regimentsarzt Dr.Demant
2. ^ Der jüdische Regimentsarzt Dr. Demant
3. ^ As it is evident from the correspondence between Peter Altenberg and Paula Schweizer (Ricarda Dick: Peter Altenbergs Bildwelt)
4. ^ Briefe an Sidonie Nádherný von Borutin, 1913-1936, Volume 2 (стр. 306)
5. ^ Biography of Peter Altenberg
6. ^ Peter Altenberg
7. ^ Peter Sprengel «Geschichte der deutschen Literatur» (стр. 252)
8. ^ List of Czernowitz Gymnasium students in 1903 (Siegmund Demant, 18 years old, from Ternopil — p. 54)
9. ^ Participation in Cultural and Public Life. Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook (2003) 48 (1): 348—376
10. ^ Emotionen und Habitus von Offizieren im Spiegelbild schöner Literatur
11. ^ Ingrid Kästner: «Der Regimentsarzt Dr. Demant in Joseph Roths "Radetzkymarsch"». Das Bild des jüdischen Arztes in der Literatur. Hg. v. Albrecht Scholz u.a. Frankfurt/Main 2002, S. 92—101
12. ^ Paula Demant and Grete Wiesenthal (picture)
13. ^ First life by Peter Demant (Ukranian:Перше життя Петера Деманта)
14. ^ "Czernowitz - Siberia - Israel" by Margit Bartfeld-Feller (Маргит Бартфельд-Феллер "Черновцы—Сибирь—Израиль")
15. ^ My only fatherland is Czernowitz (Ukranian: Моєю єдиною батьківщиною залишається Czernowitz)
16. ^ List of the Jews from Bukowina who perished in Transnistria
17. ^ History of the Jews in Bukowina
18. ^ "The Yad Vashem Museum" in Jerusalem: personal card of Zigmund Demant.
19. ^ Site of "The Yad Vashem Museum": List of Jews pershed in the Transnistr concentration camps (in Romanian); in the same list is his wife Gisela and his daughter Gerda.

Links

• Peter Demant(in German)
• "Even in Hell you still could be a human being" by Lidia Grafova(in Russian)
• "Peter Demant, romantic from Gulag" by Youry Chorney(in Russian)
• Егор Соколов (24 марта 2008). "Черновцы спасли ему жизнь…". ХайВей. http://h.ua/story/90485/. Retrieved 2011-07-27. (in Russian)
• Article (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) (in Russian)
• Ірина Вишневська «Подарунок за заповітом» (in Ukranian)

From left: Andrei Almog (nephew), Peter Demant, Dalia Almog (nephew's wife) and sister Erni Zita Rauchwerger. Israel, October 27, 1994

Persondata
Name	Demant, Peter
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 22, 1918
Place of birth	Innsbruck, Austria
Date of death	December 11, 2006
Place of death	Moscow, Russia