Keeping a diary from 1957 until 1969, the actress and screenwriter Salka Viertel (1889–1978) filled one notebook and nearly 400 typewritten pages. They are gathered together as four separate diaries in the collection of her papers held at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv (DLA) in Marbach. The first diary (28 June 1957 to 3 October 1958) is the only one to take the shape of a notebook, and the only handwritten document. Bound in cardboard, Viertel pencilled her initials, the year, and her address on the cover: “S.V. 1957, East Hampton 67 Sherrill Rd.” Inside the cover, the booklet contains a blank school timetable as well as lists of principal holidays and time differences, suggesting it was originally intended as a student diary.

The second diary (14 June 1959 to 12 January 1960) consists of 55 typewritten pages with some corrections by hand. This is also the case for the remaining two diaries, which run from 13 January 1960 to 15 June 1961 (82 pages) and from 24 June 1961 to 13 August 1969 (252 pages). Viertel kept her diary in English, although the entries are interspersed with German and, less often, phrases from other languages. Chronicling Viertel’s diasporic life – including reflections on her transnational family and circle of friends, her work, and her memories of the past – her diary provides an important first-person perspective on the history of the German-speaking Jewish diaspora.