Hella Pick

British-Austrian journalist (1929–2024)

Hella Pick

CBE

Pick in 1972, with journalist Moshe Ali

Born|

Hella Henrietta Pick

(1929-04-24)24 April 1929

Vienna, Austria

Died| 4 April 2024(2024-04-04) (aged 94)

London, England

Nationality| Austrian
British (from 1948)
Occupation| Journalist

Hella Henrietta Pick CBE (24 April 1929 – 4 April 2024) was an Austrian-born British journalist.

## Biography[edit]

Hella Pick was born in Vienna, Austria, into a middle-class Jewish family. Her parents divorced when she was three years old and she was brought up by her mother. Following Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, and a visit from the Gestapo, Pick's mother decided to leave Austria. Pick was put on a Kindertransport and arrived in Britain in March 1939. Her mother obtained a visa and joined her three months later.[1]

Pick attended school in the Lake District and learned English. Feeling awkward about her identity, for a while she refused to speak German at all, even with her mother. In 1948, Pick became a British citizen and she no longer felt herself to be a refugee.

Pick studied at the London School of Economics. She applied for a job at the United Nations, but was not accepted.[2] In 1960, she became the UN correspondent of The Guardian newspaper, where she was tutored by its chief US correspondent Alistair Cooke.[3] At the time there were very few women correspondents, and women were disadvantaged and not treated as equals; for example, at ambassadorial dinners the women withdrew after the meal as was long the custom in the English-speaking world, while the men—including Pick's colleagues and competitors—discussed events over port and cigars.[2] She also wrote for the New Statesman.[4] She was honoured with a CBE in 2000 for her work as a journalist and writer. In Germany she became known for her appearance on the TV shows Internationales Frühschoppen and Presseclub.

Pick was the Arts & Culture Programme Director at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an independent think-tank based in London.[5] She had dual British and Austrian citizenship, and regularly visited Austria, her "home away from home".

The Guardian News & Media Archive contains an oral history of her time on the paper in the 1960s and 1970s[6] and a written memoir.[7] Invisible Walls, an account of her life and career in journalism, was published in 2021.[8]

Pick died in London on 4 April 2024, at the age of 94.[9][10]

## Bibliography[edit]

* Simon Wiesenthal: A Life in Search of Justice, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996
* Guilty Victim – Austria from the Holocaust to Haider, I B Tauris & Co Ltd, 2000
* Invisible Walls, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Hella Pick". Imperial War Museum - Through My Eyes. 10 November 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
2. ^ a b Graham-Harrison, Emma (21 June 2021). "'A woman, a refugee, and a Jew': pioneering reporter Hella Pick on breaking down walls". The Guardian.
3. ^ Clarke, Nick (31 March 2004). "Obituary: Alistair Cooke". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
4. ^ "New Statesman articles by Hella Pick". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013.
5. ^ "ISD Board". Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
6. ^ "Hella Pick". Guardian News and Media Archive. The Guardian/The Observer. January–June 2002.
7. ^ "Memoir of Hella Pick 1960s-1970s". Guardian News and Media Archive. The Guardian/The Observer. 1997.
8. ^ Keane, Fergal (22 March 2021). "Invisible Walls by Hella Pick review – vital lessons from a titan of journalism". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
9. ^ Steele, Jonathan (4 April 2024). "Hella Pick obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
10. ^ "Journalistin Hella Pick gestorben: Aus Wien ganz nah an die Weltpolitik". Kurier. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.

## External links[edit]

* Imperial War Museum interview, February 2001

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