“MARTA REMEMBERS”
This episode returns to material first heard in Episode 1 of "If the House Could Speak:" Marta Feuchtwanger’s 1975 interview with Lawrence Weschler. Drawing from later tapes in the series, this compilation of excerpts traces her arrival in Los Angeles and the émigré community that formed around it.
Marta begins with her departure from Marseille, recalling the improbable flight that brought her to the United States—at one point invited by the pilot to take control of the plane. From there, the scene shifts to Los Angeles, where displacement gave way to a provisional but active cultural life.
Writers, directors, and actors recently arrived from Europe moved between temporary homes and borrowed spaces, forming a loose, shifting community. Housing was scarce, resources were limited, and living conditions were nomadic and inconsistent.
Throughout, Marta’s account remains grounded in logistics and memory: securing housing, arranging transport, managing finances, and maintaining working relationships under unstable conditions. The result is a portrait of exile not as abstraction, but as a series of decisions, negotiations, and daily adjustments that made continued work possible.
The excerpts heard in this episode come from a 50-hour interview conducted by Lawrence Weschler beginning on September 15, 1975, under the auspices of the UCLA Oral History Program. Excerpts were compiled from tapes 17, 22 and 23. Recordings courtesy of the UCLA Department of Special Collections.
This episode returns to material first heard in Episode 1 of "If the House Could Speak:" Marta Feuchtwanger’s 1975 interview with Lawrence Weschler. Drawing from later tapes in the series, this compilation of excerpts traces her arrival in Los Angeles and the émigré community that formed around it.
Marta begins with her departure from Marseille, recalling the improbable flight that brought her to the United States—at one point invited by the pilot to take control of the plane. From there, the scene shifts to Los Angeles, where displacement gave way to a provisional but active cultural life.
Writers, directors, and actors recently arrived from Europe moved between temporary homes and borrowed spaces, forming a loose, shifting community. Housing was scarce, resources were limited, and living conditions were nomadic and inconsistent.
Throughout, Marta’s account remains grounded in logistics and memory: securing housing, arranging transport, managing finances, and maintaining working relationships under unstable conditions. The result is a portrait of exile not as abstraction, but as a series of decisions, negotiations, and daily adjustments that made continued work possible.
The excerpts heard in this episode come from a 50-hour interview conducted by Lawrence Weschler beginning on September 15, 1975, under the auspices of the UCLA Oral History Program. Excerpts were compiled from tapes 17, 22 and 23. Recordings courtesy of the UCLA Department of Special Collections.
Listen to “MARTA REMEMBERS”