Мъртвешки танц

by Bernhard Kellermann

Depicting the life in Germany during the years of Hitler's dictatorship, the renowned German writer-humanist exposes the immoral essence of the Nazi state and sharply criticizes the compromising position of the intelligentsia towards Nazism.

Genres: German Literature

455 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Bernhard Kellermann was a well known German author and poet.

Reviews

[Maris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in Estonian and first off - it was beautifully translated and was written in such a simple yet captivating tone, was quite hard to put down at times. The story's main character Fabian returns home after a 4-month vacation for his heart troubles, to find that his city and the country have meanwhile become much more national socialism party driven than they were before. People he is close to have different reactions to this development: some are angry and upset about what is to come of Germany, others join the party because they believe in the cause, some join the party to be in a better state compared to not joining, some start leaving Germany.
What this book does best is describe Fabian's own moral reasoning - or rather a lack of it - over the course of him witnessing first-hand what happens to people who disagree with the party, what happens to his own brother in a labor camp where he ended up due to being too jew-friendly, and how he explains these experiences away with statements like "there are bad people in any party", "surely it's not *that* bad", "this is just a phase Germany is going through while it's transforming". He ends up losing his son to battle, his other son goes missing in war under Staliningrad, he splits from his wife due to disagreements about how jews should be treated, and loses his brother for a long time due to the same reasons. He isn't a bad man as such - we see him having friends who are jews and trying to help them out when makes sense and is safe for him to do. Not really because he is doing it for a good cause but more because they are his friends. He is also painfully aware that if he would not be part of the party he would have no work, and would also be persecuted - that would leave his family without provisions, and that terrifies him most, especially when thinking about his 2 sons whom he loves most.
He works as a lawyer and after joining the party he starts moving up in his career ladder in the city, gaining a great position and acquiring good wealth. There are startling scenes of how far his denial of the situation goes - he is having tea with his old friends, a mother and a daughter (he was courting the daughter and the feelings were mutual, until the daughter saw him in the military uniform and called everything off without explanation because she was too overwhelmed, their relation to each other remains polite after not seeing each other 2 years after this event happened; he never found out why she disappeared on him). He says that it seems the women have become rather quiet, to which the mother says that the more you have to say the less you speak. He then says that if she has so much to say, why can they not speak freely like they used to together. And she remarks that because speaking freely isn't of course possible anymore since anyone can report you about the words you speak to the Gestapo. He then says that it would be a shame if that were true. On his way home he really ponders on this thought and tries to consider if it is really true what the lady had said. Meanwhile the story has been filled with people that get taken away because of things they said in what they thought was private.
In the end he realizes how wrong his stand has been the entire time - thanks to his brother's harsh words and his own personal losses to the war. The book ends with him saying goodbye to his brother and the woman he was previously courting, telling them he is going off to war, but based on his brother's words about how what is the point of going to war now after he has realized all these things, he ends his life some hours later in his room.
A symbolical tale on how some more privileged people might have experienced these times in Germany.

[Redi]

Vallja e Vdekjes

[Languages_Books_and_Coffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zuerst hat mir das Buch nicht so sehr gefallen, am Ende wurde ich aber fasziniert und entsetzt...

[Lina Plesneviciute · Rating 4 out of 5]

AR TU TIKI, KAD VISĄ TĄ BLOGĮ, KURĮ JŪS ATNEŠĖTE Į PASAULĮ, GALIMA ATPIRKTI VIENU "ROMANTIŠKU GESTU".

[Asya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Выпивать по стопке каждый раз, когда Марион заливается своим задушевным смехом.