As we all know, Kafka only published a very small part of his own works-some short stories and novellas "Metamorphosis", and most of the unpublished works were left to his close friend Broder, hoping to burn these manuscripts after his death. Broder did not do this, but revised, sorted out and published it. These manuscripts include Kafka's most important novels Castle, Trial and America. In short, a large number of manuscripts left by Kafka are in Broder's hands. 1939 Before the Nazi invaded Austria, Brod fled to Palestine with the manuscript. 1956, he transferred some manuscripts to Switzerland.
Brod died in 1968, and the manuscript was bequeathed to his secretary and lover Esther Hof, and she was instructed to give it to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, or the library in Tel Aviv, Israel, or other relevant organizations inside and outside Israel. Hof means hope in German. Ironically, Hoff did not bring "hope" like her name. She sold some manuscripts to the German Literature Archives, and the trial manuscripts sold for a high price of $2 million.
After his death, Hoff left it to his two daughters, Eva and Ruth. Ruth died on 20 12, so the owner of today's manuscript is Eva, who lives alone in Tel Aviv with a cat, just like a character in Kafka's works. Eva seldom appears in public today and seldom goes out. She once said, "I have never been married and have no children. The only thing I have is these manuscripts. A large number of manuscripts owned by the Hof family, including Kafka's letters and paintings, are now hidden in safes in Switzerland and Israel, and have been sold to collectors by the mother and daughter.
In 2009, Israel sued Eva and Ruth, demanding that they hand over Kafka's manuscript, believing that it belonged to Israel. The basis of Israel's request is that Brod asked Hoff to give the manuscript to the Hebrew University of Israel, other Israeli organizations or foreign organizations to protect it, but Hoff's family sold the manuscript for money, which violated Brod's wishes, so the manuscript should be owned by Israel. (The representative of Israel is the National Library of Israel), and they said that they would publish a photocopy of the manuscript on the Internet for public inspection.
The Hof family claimed that Israel had nothing to do with Kafka. Although Kafka once expressed his desire to live here, there is not even a street named after Kafka in Israel to commemorate him. Kafka's manuscript is the private property of the Hoff family and was legally donated by Broder. The National Library of Israel has no right to obtain these manuscripts. Eva's lawyer said: "It is unconvincing to assume that Kafka is an Israeli writer or a writer with some connection with Israel. Kafka's manuscripts are not respected and protected in Israel. 」
The Supreme Court of Israel said in its ruling: "Broder hopes that these manuscripts can be properly stored in literary institutions or cultural institutions, rather than selling them at a good price. 」
Kafka may never have thought that there was a struggle for his manuscript so many years after his death, and it lasted for so long, but the incident was described as Kafka-style.