Writer Erich Maria Remarque left Germany and settled in Switzerland as early as April 1932. This was to escape an order of punishment for a monetary offence. Remarque had also become the target of Nazi persecution due to his novel Im Westen nichts Neues [All Quiet on the Western Front] (1929, made into a film in 1930). On 10 May 1933, his works were publicly burnt.

From 1933 on, Remarque's house in Porto Ronco also became a refuge for other victims of persecution. Together with Else Lasker-Schüler and others, he helped organise accommodation and provided financial support. The stories told by the refugees gave the writer inspiration for his literary work.

On 4 July 1938, Erich Maria Remarque was expatriated from the German Reich. In March 1939, he travelled to the USA to promote his novel Liebe deinen Nächsten (published in English under the title Flotsam). He briefly returned to Europe before emigrating to the USA permanently at the end of August 1939. He initially settled in Los Angeles, and later in New York.

Remarque's works were characterised by a pacifist, humanist world view and enjoyed great success outside Germany. His material circumstances also allowed him to support other exiles in the USA, for example by providing financial and political guarantees, e.g. for the actress Elisabeth Bergner, or making generous donations, e.g. to the European Film Fund.

Remarque became an American citizen in 1947. From 1948, he lived in both Switzerland and the USA. He only ever returned to Germany for visits.

Selected works:
Im Westen nichts Neues (Roman, 1929)
Drei Kameraden (Roman, 1938)
Liebe deinen Nächsten (Roman, 1941)
Arc de Triomphe (Roman, 1946)
Der Funke Leben (Roman, 1952)

Further reading:
Erich Maria Remarque: Das unbekannte Werk, Band 5: Briefe und Tagebücher, herausgegeben von Thomas F. Schneider und Tilman Westphalen, Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1998.
Schneider, Thomas F.: Unabhängigkeit, Toleranz, Humor. Erich Maria Remarque, 1898–1970, Osnabrück: Rasch, 2001