346 Part IV: Thinking the Unconditional
the Neue Zeitung.^83 According to him, ‘The publisher had submitted
yet again to the dictates of conformism.’ For the film had removed the
critical sting from the novel. It was ‘one of those revoltingly false, and
also – apart from the famous legs [of Marlene Dietrich] – fairly boring
films that make the excursion into full human life only to ensnare
customers and carefully filter their view of the subject through the
distortions that the rulers ascribe to the viewers in order to force them
on the latter more effectively.’^84 Adorno called for the restoration of
the original title. Thomas Mann wrote to him with approval: ‘What
you wrote about “Unrat” was good and apposite.... I also wrote a
barbed letter to Rowohlt about the title, and received an apologetic and
sheepish reply.’^85 Rowohlt denied responsibility, and in fact it proved
impossible to find out who had authorized the change. A few weeks
later, Adorno wrote in the same paper, ‘Earlier, it was reserved to
potentates and statesmen to say “I did not wish for this” when they had
instigated a war. Today, every scriptwriter and camp warder appeals to
that statement and no longer needs to lie. Everybody is his own alibi.
Lack of responsibility is no longer a privilege.’^86
No less typical of Adorno’s vehemence and his readiness to enter the
public arena was his declaration of sympathy for the campaign con-
ducted by Bernhard Grzimek, the director of Frankfurt Zoo, against
the ‘scandal of big-game hunting’. His support for this cause had noth-
ing to do with the Institute of Social Research, ‘but all the more to do
with the deeper impulses that such an institute obeys if it wishes to do
justice to the human tasks facing it.’^87 He suggested writing a short essay
on the topic and went on to say that when he returned from emigration
he had found copies of the Deutsche Jägerzeitung (German Hunting
News) in the seminar. He made a rule that his magazine would only
be permitted there ‘if the German Butcher’s News were also made
available’.^88 It was no mere accident that Adorno should have corres-
ponded with Grzimek, whose TV broadcasts had made him a popular
figure. He had loved the zoo from childhood on. This passion may
explain why he suggested buying a pair of wombats for Frankfurt Zoo.
‘I have fond memories of these little round friendly animals... and
would be delighted to see them again.... Then I would like to remind
you of the babirusa pig, which was also one of my favourites in my
childhood... And finally, what happened to the dwarf hippos they used
to have in Berlin?’^89
Preoccupied with all these academic duties and cultural activities,
how did the Adornos fare in private life? They continued the tradition
begun in America of inviting guests to the Kettenhofweg for conversa-
tion and informal gatherings. Monika Plessner recalls an evening she
spent there with her husband. She met Peter Suhrkamp there with his
wife, and Gershom Scholem was also expected. Gretel Adorno made a
favourable impression on her, ‘although she radiated a certain coolness.
She adopted a waiting stance.... Evidently, she was too proud to put