Kurt Held and Lisa Tetzner: These are the parents of the red Zora and the black siblings.

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80 years ago, a German couple fled the Nazis to Switzerland, where they created two works that still shape generations of boys and girls today: “Red Zora and her Gang” and “The Black Brothers” are among the most important and popular works. German children’s books.

Especially Zora has a large fan base to date. She was way ahead of her time: a cheeky, confident girl who led a youth gang 30 years before women were given the right to vote in Switzerland.

But who is behind Zora, Uskoken, Giorgio and other heroes from the stories? Writers Kurt Held (1897-1959) and Lisa Tetzner (1894-1963) are still largely unknown to the public. His life story is as dramatic as his novels. The State Museum now dedicates an exhibition to the two.

Lisa Tetzner used to take fairy tale trips as a young woman. In 1919, in one of these, she met her husband, then still known as Kurt Kläber, a committed communist who published revolutionary articles. When the Nazis seize power, their life together turns into a nightmare. The Nazis arrest him. After his release, Tetzner and Held crossed the border and settled in Carona TI in 1933.

The two of them are safe here, but life is still not easy. The Federal Aliens Police placed a broadcast ban because they saw Kläber as a communist and political threat. Yet the two owe their later fame to Ticino. Here, Lisa Tetzner reads about the fate of Spazzacamini in an ancient history of Ticino. This was the name of the little boys who were sold by their parents to Milan in the Verzasca Valley to work as chimney sweeps.

From this, Tetzner and her husband developed the story of the black brothers, which was published in 1941. The plot follows little Giorgio, who is sold by his father to a man to clean the chimneys of the rich in Milan. A group of chimney sweeps calling themselves the Black Brothers join the boy.

The background of the Red Zora is still relevant today.

In addition to the illustrations and typewritten texts of the story, the state museum also displays pictures of actual chimney sweep children. With the Russian on their cheeks, they are silent witnesses of the difficult times when parents sold their children. Curator Andrea Franzen (37) says: “Things like hunger and poverty are just as relevant today as they were then. The story is an honest one, though harsh.”

Poverty and hunger are also themes that continue throughout the story of the red Zora. The book follows an orphaned Branko and joins the red Zora gang called Uskoken. Children steal and clash with the law.

Not only did the two books have the same year of publication, they both had a similar fate after publication: they were initially unsuccessful. It didn’t really start selling until the 1950s. The two books remained the couple’s greatest successes until their death.

Red Zora and the Black Brothers at the Zurich National Museum from 10 June

Source : Blick