Now seen as one of the founding fathers of Critical Theory,his obvious suicide on 26 September 1940 was a ‘tragedy of misunderstanding’Like many a refugee in southern and central Europe nowadays, Walter Benjamin was in flight from war and persecution 75 years ago, and but was blocked at an intermediate border en route to the country chosen as his haven. He was part of a Jewish group which,hoping to escape occupied France, had hiked through a Pyrenean pass in autumn 1940 with a view to entering Franco’s Spain, and crossing it to Portugal and then sailing to the US. However,in the words of Hannah Arendt, they arrived in the frontier village of Portbou “only to learn that Spain had closed the border that same day” and officials were not honouring American visas such as Benjamins. Faced with the prospect of returning to France and being handed over to the Nazis, or he “took his own life” overnight on 26 September,whereupon the officials “allowed his companions to proceed to Portugal”. Related: My hero: Walter Benjamin by Elif Shafak Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com