Name	Mencken, Henry L.
Alternative Names
ID	1540
Gender	male
Lifespan	1880-09-12 - 1956-01-29
Professions	writer, editor, journalist, Kulturkritiker

Collection(s)	Default import collection Transatlantic Networks webclient
Uri(s)	https://id.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/ica/persons/1_101 https://ica.acdh-dev.oeaw.ac.at/entity/1540/ https://d-nb.info/gnd/118924753
Notes	Mencken functioned as a mediator in a transatlantic network including the family of Leon Kellner, who himself passed away in 1928. After the "Anschluss", Mencken was very active on behalf of this Jewish family. Mencken wrote numerous letters for Kellner’s grandson, submitted affidavits to the U.S. State Department, petitioned the U.S. Consul in Australia (where the young man was temporarily interned) and pledged that he would personally "take care" of Stefan Benjamin "in case he [ran] into difficulties" in the United States. Mencken interceded as well for Kellner’s second daughter and nephew, and he spent a great deal of time, in perticular, helping Kellner’s granddaughter, Hannah Arnold, a medical student, who had recently escaped from Vienna only to be trapped in Zurich. He besieged the authorities in Washington with requests for papers, signed her affidavit, and agreed that he would "provide financial aisstance" for her if necessary. Mencken sponsored several members of the Kellner family, thus "quietly helping Jews to escape from Hitler’s terror" and bringing them to the United States.