Emanuel and Eva: Jewish Identity and Leaving Nazi Germany

Marika Hughes, the granddaughter of cellist Emanuel Feuermann, reflects on her family’s experiences as Jewish artists during the rise of Nazism in Germany. Hughes discusses the complex identities of her grandparents, particularly her grandmother Eva, who was from a wealthy, assimilated German Jewish family, had little connection to her Jewish heritage and viewed herself as primarily German.

Feuermann held a stronger identification with his Jewish roots, and in a letter to Eva, expressed his struggle with the duality of being both German and Jewish, and questioning the nature of identity beyond religion. Hughes shares that her family celebrated both Christmas and Jewish traditions, indicating a blend of cultural influences in their lives.