Ernst Weiss

Dr Ernst Weiss was a Germanspeaking Austrian author of Jewish descent. He is the author of Ich, der Augenzeuge , a novel dealing with the Hitler period.

Ernst Weiss was born in Brno, Moravia, AustroHungarian Empire to the family of a prosperous Jewish cloth merchant. After his father died when he was four, he was brought up by his mother Berta, ne Weinberg, who led him to art. However after completing his secondary education in Brno, Litomice and Hostinn, he came to Prague to study medicine. In 1908 he finished his studies in Vienna and became a surgeon. He practiced in Berne, Vienna, and Berlin but he developed tuberculosis and tried to recover as a ship doctor on a trip to India and Japan in 1912. In 1913 he met Rahel Sanzara, a dancer, actress and, later, novelist, and their relationship lasted until she died of cancer in 1936. In the same year he met Franz Kafka and they became close friends. Kafka wrote in his Diaries 1914 January 2. A lot of time well spent with Dr. Weiss. Weiss was in touch with other writers of the Prague Circle such as Franz Werfel, Max Brod, and Johannes Urzidil. In 1914 Weiss returned to Austria to start a

Source: Wikipedia