Decision ends long legal battle over ownership of the papers, which the German-language writer left to his friend Max Brod to destroy after his death
An Israeli court has awarded a rare collection of Franz Kafka’s manuscripts to the country’s national library, ending a long legal battle worthy of one of the Prague-born writer’s complex stories.
The judgment, published on Wednesday, ordered Tel Aviv resident Eva Hoffe to hand all the papers in her possession to the National Library of Israel.
Kafka died in 1924, with most of his work published after his death.
The author of “The Metamorphosis”, who wrote in German, entrusted his manuscripts and works to his friend, Max Brod, and instructed him to burn them after his passing.
But Brod did not honour Kafka’s wishes, and took the papers with him to Palestine when he fled Nazi persecution in 1939.
Brod, who died in 1968, bequeathed the Kafka collection, including unpublished writings, to his secretary, Esther Hoffe. She was to “publish his work and ensure after her death that his literary estate be placed for safekeeping in a suitable institution,” the court record showed.
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The judgment, published on Wednesday, ordered Tel Aviv resident Eva Hoffe to hand all the papers in her possession to the National Library of Israel.
Kafka died in 1924, with most of his work published after his death.
The author of “The Metamorphosis”, who wrote in German, entrusted his manuscripts and works to his friend, Max Brod, and instructed him to burn them after his passing.
But Brod did not honour Kafka’s wishes, and took the papers with him to Palestine when he fled Nazi persecution in 1939.
Brod, who died in 1968, bequeathed the Kafka collection, including unpublished writings, to his secretary, Esther Hoffe. She was to “publish his work and ensure after her death that his literary estate be placed for safekeeping in a suitable institution,” the court record showed.
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