Queer Places:
Herengracht 401, 1017 BP Amsterdam
Manuel
Goldschmidt (October 8, 1926 - March 7, 2012) and
Peter Goldschmidt, 'half-Jews'
according to Nazi laws, were also student from Eerde. They belonged to the Wolfgang Frommel circle.
Their non-Jewish mother arranged safe papers. Their non-Jewish appearance made
it possible for them to leave Ommen without going into hiding. Manuel lived in
a boarding house on the Amsterdam Singel and was a regular visitor to
Herengracht 401. So was his brother Peter. Other friends and frequent visitors
included
Reinout van Rossum du Chattel
and, from Bergen, Chris Dekker and
Vincent Weyand. When the author
Percy Gothein, the former
apple of the eye of
Stefan George, who served Wolfgang
Frommel as master and lover, visited them in November 1943, a special picture
of the men from the Frommel circle was taken in the kitchen of Miep and Guido
Theunissen. The picture actually shows a sect-leader, Wolfgang Frommel, and
his master Gothein, surrounded by disciples. In 1944 Gothein returned for a
longer period of time. Because of the culture of silence created by Frommel,
Reinout could only write in 1996 that Percy Gothein 'suddenly found himself in
a boy's brothel'.
Rudolf Manuel Goldschmidt was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Dr. Fritz Goldschmidt and Helene Goldschmidt. From its inception in 1942 until his retirement in 2002, Manuel Goldschmidt was closely involved in the ins and outs of Castrum Peregrini. Together with Wolfgang Frommel, Gisèle d'Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht and Claus Bock, he formed the center of the former Castrum Peregrini circle of friends. As Wolfgang Frommel's right-hand man and as director and publisher, he determined the course of the foundation and its publishing house for 40 years (from 1962 to 1998). Manuel Goldschmidt published several poems and collections under the pseudonym Manuel Claussner.
My published books:
