The rise of the Nazis, the annexation of Austria, and the split of Czechoslovakia in 1938: in response to these alarming events, Otti Berger writes to Hilberseimer: “Europe goes to hell and makes every effort to speed it up.”
Otti Berger had placed her hopes on a job as head of the weaving studio at the New Bauhaus in Chicago. But in September 1938 due to financial problems with the New Bauhaus in Chicago, she was told she could only start in one- or two-years’ time.
After the “Night of Broken Glass” in Berlin on 9-10th November 1938 something dreadful happened to her atelier in Fasanenstrasse, which she had rented out. The Jewish synagogue was set on fire and thousands of windows in Jewish homes and businesses were broken. She had to give up her workshop and returned home to her sick mother in Zmajevac.
In the meantime the Bauhaus members in Chicago, Hilberseimer, Moholy-Nagy and Mies van der Rohe worked to get her a visa from America.
Moholy wrote the following letter to Otti in 1939:
Chicago, July 5, 1939 Dear Otti,
I am very sorry that your trip to the United States has been delayed. We are waiting for you; come as soon as you can. The textile workshop must be prepared so that the students can find it ready for the fall semester. Your knowledge of Bauhaus teaching methods, your experience gained in the old workshops, as well as your professional expertise, are indispensable for our institution. You must be here to set up the textile workshop.
Please inform us of your arrival by telegram so we can make the necessary arrangements accordingly.
Our exhibition at the end of the term was very successful. We are very satisfied with the result.
Yours sincerely, László Moholy-Nagy