Exile
Dehn escaped Russia aboard the ship SS Kherson with her mother and son Titi via Turkey and Greece. They eventually reached England. The family first settled in England, where the von Dehns had two more children, Ekaterina, or Katharina, or Catherine, in December 1919 and Maria Olga, or Marie, in April 1923. They later moved to a family estate, Holowiesk, in eastern Poland. Her husband died in 1932 and her daughter Catherine died in 1937. After World War II broke out, she was forced to emigrate again and ended in Caracas, Venezuela, where her daughter Maria, who spoke seven languages, later worked as an interpreter for the Venezuelan government.
In the early 1950s, Dehn visited Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the rescued Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Dehn said she recognized Anderson as Anastasia. "What can I say after having known her?" Dehn said after the meeting. "I certainly cannot be mistaken about her identity." Dehn died in 1963.
Her son, Alexander, died in 1974 and her daughter Maria died in February 2007. Both left children and grandchildren. Today her daughter Maria's two children and four grandchildren live in the United States.
Read more about this topic: Lili Dehn
Famous quotes containing the word exile:
“The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one’s country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)
“The exile is a singular, whereas refugees tend to be thought of in the mass. Armenian refugees, Jewish refugees, refugees from Franco Spain. But a political leader or artistic figure is an exile. Thomas Mann yesterday, Theodorakis today. Exile is the noble and dignified term, while a refugee is more hapless.... What is implied in these nuances of social standing is the respect we pay to choice. The exile appears to have made a decision, while the refugee is the very image of helplessness.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“Public employment contributes neither to advantage nor happiness. It is but honorable exile from one’s family and affairs.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)