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Kafka papers come to light

Berlin: Scholars of 20th-century writer Franz Kafka are in a state of suspense and excitement on Tuesday night at the news that the remains of his estate, which have been hoarded in a Tel Aviv flat, may soon be revealed.

Previously unseen documents, postcards, sketches and personal belongings of the Czech-Jewish writer, who wrote in German, have been gathering dust in the home of Esther Hoffe, the former secretary of Kafka’s friend and executor Max Brod since his death in 1968.

Hoffe’s refusal to relinquish the documents led to a literary game of cat and mouse between her and the state of Israel, under pressure from the country’s cultural elite. At one point, it led to her arrest on suspicion of smuggling out Kafka’s writings.

Now, following her death at the age of 101, Kafka lovers hope the row may have ended. Researchers are ready to pounce on the contents of Hoffe’s flat, expecting that the items would throw new light on the mysterious writer who died at the age of 41, as well as his friendship with Brod, his greatest champion.

But authorities in Tel Aviv have warned that the papers, with their high sulphuric acid content, may have stood up poorly to conditions in Hoffe’s damp flat. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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