180 Part III: Emigration YearsThe fact that capitalism can be bestial is not just a matter of eco-
nomics. ... In our case a revolution would not.. .stimulate a youthful
nation full of energy; nor do I believe in the curative powers of social
upheaval.’^25 Adorno’s reaction to these forebodings is not known.
In general, he refrained from comment on political developments in
Germany. An eloquent testimony to Adorno’s political naivety can be
found in his conversations with Peter von Haselberg in Berlin. In a
discussion about the current political situation, he maintained ‘that
the purification of the German body politic would wear itself out in
clearing-up operations: after clearing out the attics there woulddoubtless
be a propaganda campaign against the rats and then the slogan: Down
with rust. Moreover, the economy was in too precarious a state for
the government to launch any drastic initiatives, if only because of the
effect on opinion abroad and the withdrawal of credits. That is exact
imagination, he concluded.’^26
Such sarcasm, however, was just one side of Adorno’s mood. The
other was to be seen in his ties to the culture and language of his
native land. These were so powerful that he made every effort to avoid
emigration. This included his decision to try and publish in various
journals under a pseudonym. The name Hektor Rottweiler seemed
to him to be a good piece of camouflage. He explained to Peter von
Haselberg that ‘the Rottweiler was a typical butcher’s dog and was
almost always called Hektor. It was a fearsome beast and so no Nazi
will ever suspect that it might hide the identity of a non-Aryan writer.’^27
A later letter to Krenek in October 1934 gives the fullest account
of Adorno’s attempts to ‘go into hibernation’ under the Third Reich.
Although he experienced the sanctions of the new rulers personally, the
decision to emigrate came very hard.
The events in Germany which I experienced in Unter den Linden
in Berlin for the most part, including those of 1 April 1933, first
made me go very quiet and threw me back on my own affairs
entirely. My work in the university ceased in spring 1933. I had
lost the venia legendi the previous autumn, on my thirtiethbirthday.
For the most part, I spent the summer and autumn of 1933 finishing
the text of my Tom Sawyer.^28Adorno goes on to tell Krenek that he had obtained contacts to
the management of the Vossische Zeitung and had even succeeded in
having some articles published in the first half of 1933. This was thanks
to the mediation of a friend of his, Friedrich T. Gubler, who had pre-
viously been an editor on the cultural section of the Frankfurter Zeitung,
and later in the Vossische Zeitung. A whole series of articles remained
unpublished, however. His expectation of being able to circumvent
the press laws and obtain a position as a freelance editor was quickly
dashed. The paper itself was forced to close down during the year. This