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The Lost Europeans
Coming back was worse, much worse, than Martin Stone had anticipated.
Martin Stone returns to the city from which his family was driven in 1938. He has concealed his destination from his father, and hopes to win some form of restitution for the depressed old man living in exile in London. THE LOST EUROPEANS portrays a tense, ruined yet flourishing Berlin where nothing is quite what it seems.
297 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1958
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 8, 2016
I recently read and loved Emanuel Litvinoff’s wonderful 'Journey Through A Small Planet'. I highly recommended it to anyone who likes books about London, and reading about the interwar years. It's a masterly evocation of London's Jewish East End of the 1920s and 1930s, a vivid, long-vanished world in the overcrowded tenements of Brick Lane and Whitechapel. Needless to say when I heard that 'The Lost Europeans, his 1958, debut novel, had been reissued I was keen to read it.
'The Lost Europeans’ is the story of two Jewish men, Martin Stone and Hugo Krantz, seeking answers and closure in 1950s Berlin. Martin Stone returns from London to Berlin, the city of his birth, to claim financial restitution for his father, whose bank was appropriated by the Nazis. His older friend, Hugo Krantz, also fled Berlin for London in the 1930s, after enjoying success as a celebrated theatrical writer in Weimar Republic era Berlin. Hugo has since returned and resettled in Berlin, but he cannot rest until he has discovered whether his lover, who betrayed him to the Nazis and then became an SS officer, survived the war.
The plot becomes increasingly absorbing however it is the stunning evocation of post-War Berlin where this book scores most highly. Emanuel Litvinoff is a hell of a writer and I frequently paused to reread various sections. Perhaps not surprisingly it also put me in mind of Carol Reed’s 1949 cinematic masterpiece 'The Third Man’. Both works feature a post-War melting pot imbued with cold war paranoia and peopled by shady, duplicitous characters who may not be quite what they seem.
By the time I'd finished chapter seven, what was already good had become great and a five star rating was a given, and yet, if anything, it continued to get better still.
This powerful novel really deserves to be rediscovered, for its magnificent portrayal of a city trying to rebuild and come to terms with its monstrously violent past, and its present as a divided world, all of which informs even the most casual conversations and encounters.
'The Lost Europeans’ is the story of two Jewish men, Martin Stone and Hugo Krantz, seeking answers and closure in 1950s Berlin. Martin Stone returns from London to Berlin, the city of his birth, to claim financial restitution for his father, whose bank was appropriated by the Nazis. His older friend, Hugo Krantz, also fled Berlin for London in the 1930s, after enjoying success as a celebrated theatrical writer in Weimar Republic era Berlin. Hugo has since returned and resettled in Berlin, but he cannot rest until he has discovered whether his lover, who betrayed him to the Nazis and then became an SS officer, survived the war.
The plot becomes increasingly absorbing however it is the stunning evocation of post-War Berlin where this book scores most highly. Emanuel Litvinoff is a hell of a writer and I frequently paused to reread various sections. Perhaps not surprisingly it also put me in mind of Carol Reed’s 1949 cinematic masterpiece 'The Third Man’. Both works feature a post-War melting pot imbued with cold war paranoia and peopled by shady, duplicitous characters who may not be quite what they seem.
By the time I'd finished chapter seven, what was already good had become great and a five star rating was a given, and yet, if anything, it continued to get better still.
This powerful novel really deserves to be rediscovered, for its magnificent portrayal of a city trying to rebuild and come to terms with its monstrously violent past, and its present as a divided world, all of which informs even the most casual conversations and encounters.
February 16, 2017
"He was involved in the classic Jewish dilemma....the Nazis didn't stop [him] from being a German, they destroyed the Germany to which he belonged."
Emanuel Litvinoff was born in London to Russian Jewish emigres. He became interested in the fate of European Jews in the mid fifties and went over to Berlin to experience the situation for himself. His two main characters, Hugo and Martin, both escaped to London from Germany before war broke out. Hugo returned after the war, escaping yet again from a difficult life, and Martin has returned in the mid 1950s to claim restitution for the loss of his family's bank. Both are Jewish. Hugo is obsessed with finding his lover, Putzi, who betrayed him in the 1930s leading to his torture for being homosexual. Martin feels nothing but bitterness towards the Germans and is only there to do business but he meets a girl and falls in love. She is an analogy for Germany and Martin's treatment of her reflects his confusion about his relationship with the country.
This is a book of ideas and arguments. It's a portrait of Berlin after the war and before the wall, of its people and how they dealt with their collective guilt and complicity in mass murder, of how Jews who survived or who returned there after the war dealt with their feelings towards the country and its people, their fellow Germans. It's a first novel and suffers for that. It wasn't a surprise to learn that the film rights were sold almost immediately, although the film was never made. We can almost hear the jackboots at times and the ending is fairly classic film noir. None of the characters are likeable and only a few are multidimensional. I'd have to read more of Litvinoff's work to make a decision about him as a writer but he made me think and that's a good enough reason to spend more time with him.
Emanuel Litvinoff was born in London to Russian Jewish emigres. He became interested in the fate of European Jews in the mid fifties and went over to Berlin to experience the situation for himself. His two main characters, Hugo and Martin, both escaped to London from Germany before war broke out. Hugo returned after the war, escaping yet again from a difficult life, and Martin has returned in the mid 1950s to claim restitution for the loss of his family's bank. Both are Jewish. Hugo is obsessed with finding his lover, Putzi, who betrayed him in the 1930s leading to his torture for being homosexual. Martin feels nothing but bitterness towards the Germans and is only there to do business but he meets a girl and falls in love. She is an analogy for Germany and Martin's treatment of her reflects his confusion about his relationship with the country.
This is a book of ideas and arguments. It's a portrait of Berlin after the war and before the wall, of its people and how they dealt with their collective guilt and complicity in mass murder, of how Jews who survived or who returned there after the war dealt with their feelings towards the country and its people, their fellow Germans. It's a first novel and suffers for that. It wasn't a surprise to learn that the film rights were sold almost immediately, although the film was never made. We can almost hear the jackboots at times and the ending is fairly classic film noir. None of the characters are likeable and only a few are multidimensional. I'd have to read more of Litvinoff's work to make a decision about him as a writer but he made me think and that's a good enough reason to spend more time with him.
December 22, 2024
Fortunately, this novel has been picked up by a small publisher and reprinted. This is the first time I have encountered a novel dealing with German society rebuilding itself in the early 1950s. Chiefly it deals with how the Jews returning to Germany dealt with reclaiming stolen assets, and those that had been part of vibrant 20s and 30s theatre world, and coming to terms with a society that was gone forever.
There is an expected odd uneasiness in Berlin - people are using social amnesia to deal with a post Nazi country, and with both a divided country and city. Already East Berlin and East Germany are becoming economically separated from west Germany, and the people being in fear of a secret police. As someone who was born much later, but was educated via contemporary films of the times, it is obvious that such worlds portrayed by Reed's The Third Man, and Le Carre's Smiley novels, were not heightened drama and melodramatic hysteria, but something that everyone experienced regardless of their status. This novel cements this world.
The tragedy expressed here are the older Jews - they are husks of themselves - particularly those that had moved from elegant high society and privilege to the terror of the Holocaust, to now living out their final years - emotionally and mentally and financially broken. And constantly in fear - is that person walking pass them a former Nazi officer, and what can they still do in a time where everyone is pretending all is fine now.
It is a powerful expose of the culture and society of the day, and one that should be better known.
There is an expected odd uneasiness in Berlin - people are using social amnesia to deal with a post Nazi country, and with both a divided country and city. Already East Berlin and East Germany are becoming economically separated from west Germany, and the people being in fear of a secret police. As someone who was born much later, but was educated via contemporary films of the times, it is obvious that such worlds portrayed by Reed's The Third Man, and Le Carre's Smiley novels, were not heightened drama and melodramatic hysteria, but something that everyone experienced regardless of their status. This novel cements this world.
The tragedy expressed here are the older Jews - they are husks of themselves - particularly those that had moved from elegant high society and privilege to the terror of the Holocaust, to now living out their final years - emotionally and mentally and financially broken. And constantly in fear - is that person walking pass them a former Nazi officer, and what can they still do in a time where everyone is pretending all is fine now.
It is a powerful expose of the culture and society of the day, and one that should be better known.
May 13, 2016
This book deserves this lovely new edition, I picked it up in a book shop and within 3 pages decided I was going to buy it. I was well-rewarded.
It is a very good book dealing with an issue that still has impact and relevance today - what happens when people who've fled genocidal violence return home, back amongst its perpetrators? It doesn't offer any clear answers, but it gives plenty of food for thought and a view of a post-war Berlin that's surprisingly close to Weimar-era Berlin but with some intense differences, and which was gone completely within a decade. I highly recommend it.
It is a very good book dealing with an issue that still has impact and relevance today - what happens when people who've fled genocidal violence return home, back amongst its perpetrators? It doesn't offer any clear answers, but it gives plenty of food for thought and a view of a post-war Berlin that's surprisingly close to Weimar-era Berlin but with some intense differences, and which was gone completely within a decade. I highly recommend it.
June 26, 2017
The story of Jewish refugees feelings towards Germany and the German people is explored in this book with considerable force. It is a fascinating portrayal of two men's confusion about the country of their birth which treated them as little more than animals. How does a survivor then wrestle with those emotions ? As one of the two central characters expresses very early on he looks at every German he meets and wonders what they did during the war.
The story itself is about two men, Martin stone fled Germany before 1939 as a child of a prominent banking family, he and his father now live in London and unbeknown to his father he returns to Berlin to seek compensation. This is a Berlin in the period post war before the wall goes up so travel to East Berlin is fairly easy. Martin is helped in his settling in by a friend of his father Hugo who similarly fled pre war , a flamboyant impresario he was betrayed by a German friend/lover prior to his departure leading to his torture, that friend who went on to join the SS becomes the subject of an obsessive man hunt for Hugo. Both of these men's stories are followed as they come to terms with a Germany emerging from the war with many of the perpetrators of abuse of jews still in prominent roles. A Germany that in 1920's that Hugo thrived in was that of cabaret and excess but within a decade was oppressively controlled including sexually.
I found the book immensely readable with the dilemma of the characters well portrayed, even to the extent that it does not shy away from Martin's negative portrayal of some of the Jewish characters he meets in the boarding lodge in which he stays . The story says much about immediate the post war period in Germany and I have not seen this portrayed a lot in fiction and certainly not from the perspective of Jewish survivors returning. It also explores the issue of an individual falling love with someone who herself whilst part of a German society that was responsible for horrors against his race herself has been the victim of atrocities of war as the Russians invaded Germany with sensitivity and poignancy.
I think this is a really significant work and certainly would spark an interesting discussion with other readers. It is a book I'd really recommend .
The story itself is about two men, Martin stone fled Germany before 1939 as a child of a prominent banking family, he and his father now live in London and unbeknown to his father he returns to Berlin to seek compensation. This is a Berlin in the period post war before the wall goes up so travel to East Berlin is fairly easy. Martin is helped in his settling in by a friend of his father Hugo who similarly fled pre war , a flamboyant impresario he was betrayed by a German friend/lover prior to his departure leading to his torture, that friend who went on to join the SS becomes the subject of an obsessive man hunt for Hugo. Both of these men's stories are followed as they come to terms with a Germany emerging from the war with many of the perpetrators of abuse of jews still in prominent roles. A Germany that in 1920's that Hugo thrived in was that of cabaret and excess but within a decade was oppressively controlled including sexually.
I found the book immensely readable with the dilemma of the characters well portrayed, even to the extent that it does not shy away from Martin's negative portrayal of some of the Jewish characters he meets in the boarding lodge in which he stays . The story says much about immediate the post war period in Germany and I have not seen this portrayed a lot in fiction and certainly not from the perspective of Jewish survivors returning. It also explores the issue of an individual falling love with someone who herself whilst part of a German society that was responsible for horrors against his race herself has been the victim of atrocities of war as the Russians invaded Germany with sensitivity and poignancy.
I think this is a really significant work and certainly would spark an interesting discussion with other readers. It is a book I'd really recommend .
December 25, 2021
Plenty of books have been written set in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WW2, when the city was 90% rubble, and quite a few post-1961 when the wall was erected and the cold war heated up. But not that many set in the middle, in the mid-late ‘50s when Germany was getting back on its feet, the time of the economic miracle, but still in sectors, still occupied by Allied and Soviet soldiers but with basic freedom of movement between the two cities.
Litvinoff concentrates on two Jewish men who are both emigré and immigrant, both escaped to London when Hitler came to power, one of whom, Martin, is settled in Swiss Cottage and visiting Berlin to try to get reparations for family wealth confiscated by the Nazis, the other, Hugo, now re-settled in Berlin on the Ku’damm. Hugo is gay and - considering thus book was published in 1958, when active male homosexuality was illegal in both Berlins and the UK - he is portrayed sympathetically. He has his own quest – to find his ex-lover who rescinded his sexuality in the '30s and joined the SS.
Whilst Martin is (understandably) bitter about the German citizens, focusing some of his anger on the lawyer dealing with his restitution case, who feels a national shame, but no individual shame despite having worked for the Nazi party, we see the German people also suffered, mostly personified by East Berliner Karin who was raped as a child by the invading Russian soldiers, as well as Frau Goetz, a Gentile who harboured Jews and was sent to Buchenwald.
An uneasy portrait of a country coming to terms with both its past and its future.
Litvinoff concentrates on two Jewish men who are both emigré and immigrant, both escaped to London when Hitler came to power, one of whom, Martin, is settled in Swiss Cottage and visiting Berlin to try to get reparations for family wealth confiscated by the Nazis, the other, Hugo, now re-settled in Berlin on the Ku’damm. Hugo is gay and - considering thus book was published in 1958, when active male homosexuality was illegal in both Berlins and the UK - he is portrayed sympathetically. He has his own quest – to find his ex-lover who rescinded his sexuality in the '30s and joined the SS.
Whilst Martin is (understandably) bitter about the German citizens, focusing some of his anger on the lawyer dealing with his restitution case, who feels a national shame, but no individual shame despite having worked for the Nazi party, we see the German people also suffered, mostly personified by East Berliner Karin who was raped as a child by the invading Russian soldiers, as well as Frau Goetz, a Gentile who harboured Jews and was sent to Buchenwald.
An uneasy portrait of a country coming to terms with both its past and its future.
December 19, 2020
I started this much earlier in the year, and picked it back up within the last month and couldn't put it down. Timing? Who knows.
Set within 10 years of the end of WWII, this is a beautiful debut novel -- you don't mind the plot setup and the characters who are sometimes more to serve an idea than to exist. Everyone is broken, lost (hence), a little uneasy and skeptical. Trying to forget and move on, so well they forget who they were. Trying to make and get reparations. There's an atmosphere of despair and aimlessness, and a thread a hatred in the background.
It wasn't an easy read. It's a dark book to read in a dark year. But I wish I could start it over right now and read it without knowing any of what happens.
Set within 10 years of the end of WWII, this is a beautiful debut novel -- you don't mind the plot setup and the characters who are sometimes more to serve an idea than to exist. Everyone is broken, lost (hence), a little uneasy and skeptical. Trying to forget and move on, so well they forget who they were. Trying to make and get reparations. There's an atmosphere of despair and aimlessness, and a thread a hatred in the background.
It wasn't an easy read. It's a dark book to read in a dark year. But I wish I could start it over right now and read it without knowing any of what happens.
June 12, 2019
Barely recognisable in style as the author of the Faces of Terror trilogy but if anything even better.
November 20, 2016
I chose this book among many that caught my eye in the Dussmann's on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin. The author was born in England, unlike the protagonist, Jewish like the author but whose fictional family was forced to flea Germany. Litvinoff apparently moved to Berlin in the 1950s to research his novel which I read primarily for that same experience. His details did take me there, and the emotions of refugees and "ordinary" Germans described sound similar to what people say today--though 50+ years have passed.
There were some abrupt transitions, which I expected professional reviewers' descriptions of awkward moments in a\this debut novel. Litvinoff was primarily a poet, and the description of his giving TS Eliot a comeuppance for his anti-semitism in a public reading--with Eliot apparently defending Litvinoff's poem--warmed my heart. I have many three pages of notes in the back pages.
There were some abrupt transitions, which I expected professional reviewers' descriptions of awkward moments in a\this debut novel. Litvinoff was primarily a poet, and the description of his giving TS Eliot a comeuppance for his anti-semitism in a public reading--with Eliot apparently defending Litvinoff's poem--warmed my heart. I have many three pages of notes in the back pages.
July 13, 2016
A am wrung out.
September 26, 2018
The Lost Europeans was my introduction to Emanuel Litvinoff. If it's representative of his skill as a writer, I'll have to check out his other books! It's about two German-Jewish emigres, Martin Stone and Hugo Krantz, who return to Berlin for very different reasons. Martin to settle a restitution claim, Hugo seeking revenge on the man who betrayed him. The writing is very atmospheric and really draws you into the setting. It's a lot like a noir. Berlin almost feels like its own character. Litvinoff actually spent time in Berlin before writing the book, and it really shows. He captures a city that- much like Nazi Germany- will never exist again.
Martin started out so stoic and bitter. Even though his feelings were justified, I had a hard time liking him. But by the end, I loved him! Though it sometimes got very heavy and depressing, his romance with Karin melted my heart. It's been a while since I've really rooted for characters like that. As far as gay characters go, Hugo was a bit stereotypical. He's theatrical, flamboyant, and eccentric. But sympathetic gay characters were extremely rare in the 1950s, and I can't stress that enough. I'm shocked this wasn't more controversial when it was published.
As I mentioned earlier, the Lost Europeans could technically be described as a noir. Even though the war is over, no one is ever truly safe. There's always tension lurking in the background. The communists have replaced the nazis, and in some ways, things haven't really changed. The book also addresses a lot of difficult questions about collective guilt, atonement, etc. But the philosophy is never shoved down your throat. The ending is definitely bittersweet, but it hints at a hopeful future. Honestly, it left me wanting more, and I mean that in a good way. The Lost European was one of the best surprises I've had in a while. I'm so glad I discovered it.
Martin started out so stoic and bitter. Even though his feelings were justified, I had a hard time liking him. But by the end, I loved him! Though it sometimes got very heavy and depressing, his romance with Karin melted my heart. It's been a while since I've really rooted for characters like that. As far as gay characters go, Hugo was a bit stereotypical. He's theatrical, flamboyant, and eccentric. But sympathetic gay characters were extremely rare in the 1950s, and I can't stress that enough. I'm shocked this wasn't more controversial when it was published.
As I mentioned earlier, the Lost Europeans could technically be described as a noir. Even though the war is over, no one is ever truly safe. There's always tension lurking in the background. The communists have replaced the nazis, and in some ways, things haven't really changed. The book also addresses a lot of difficult questions about collective guilt, atonement, etc. But the philosophy is never shoved down your throat. The ending is definitely bittersweet, but it hints at a hopeful future. Honestly, it left me wanting more, and I mean that in a good way. The Lost European was one of the best surprises I've had in a while. I'm so glad I discovered it.
November 15, 2020
Period misogyny
So this was written in 1958 and is, as Michael Schmidt says in his introduction "singularly of its period." There comes a point for me where blatant misogyny, complete disgust with women and laughably dated objectification, don't need to be dug up. This is the first of Apollo's "lost masterpieces' I have picked up and it's a nice idea for an imprint, but this editorial choice is enough to make me steer my reading time and money in other directions.
Judge for yourself - there's plenty of it, but for example: a fantasy of the protagonist is of a girl who is" well built and pretty in a cow like way; full, pouting mouth and sleepy eyes ; a soft, yielding sex-ripe body."
another fantasy- "the odour of her corrupt, perfumed flesh teasing his nostrils".
A descriptive passage elsewhere "the night streets were now filled with the scented corruption the girl had breathed in his face." "Whenever he passed a woman he was conscious of the silken rustle of her limbs under her dress, her warm polluted flesh drowsy with sensuality."
So this was written in 1958 and is, as Michael Schmidt says in his introduction "singularly of its period." There comes a point for me where blatant misogyny, complete disgust with women and laughably dated objectification, don't need to be dug up. This is the first of Apollo's "lost masterpieces' I have picked up and it's a nice idea for an imprint, but this editorial choice is enough to make me steer my reading time and money in other directions.
Judge for yourself - there's plenty of it, but for example: a fantasy of the protagonist is of a girl who is" well built and pretty in a cow like way; full, pouting mouth and sleepy eyes ; a soft, yielding sex-ripe body."
another fantasy- "the odour of her corrupt, perfumed flesh teasing his nostrils".
A descriptive passage elsewhere "the night streets were now filled with the scented corruption the girl had breathed in his face." "Whenever he passed a woman he was conscious of the silken rustle of her limbs under her dress, her warm polluted flesh drowsy with sensuality."
November 10, 2023
When I was choosing this novel I noticed that one reviewer, with all the piety and puritanism that has become so popular recently, criticised it bitterly for its outdated language and attitudes.
Apart from the fact that this, admittedly outdated, content gave verisimilitude and reflected the period in which it was set and written, I find it not an outrage but rather a useful and positive reminder of how much we have progressed in terms of social norms.
It was moving, atmospheric and powerful.
Apart from the fact that this, admittedly outdated, content gave verisimilitude and reflected the period in which it was set and written, I find it not an outrage but rather a useful and positive reminder of how much we have progressed in terms of social norms.
It was moving, atmospheric and powerful.
December 26, 2020
I love these 'forgotten classics' from Zeus - every one I've read has been one that wouldn't normally interest me but they've all been really good and introduced me to authors that I've gone on to read their other work. Highly recommended.
January 5, 2019
I re-read this novel for the third or maybe fourth time. It was more thrilling and brilliant than ever! A perfect Novel, per se!
June 28, 2019
Litvinoff is a name I've never heard of before but I found his story of identity in post-war Berlin very fascinating. Definitely going to check out more of his books.
Read
July 31, 2019Leaving unrated. I need to read this again when my mind is less cloudy. The writing was beautiful, but I got lost and couldn’t recover.
December 26, 2024
Brilliant — it's an injustice that this novel is seemingly forgotten
February 10, 2025
Fantastic
December 19, 2020
My new favourite Berlin novel.
May 20, 2020
I was greatly moved by this book. Set in postwar, pre-Wall Berlin, the book explores the psyches and motivations of two German-born Jews who have returned for different reasons: the younger Martin's attempts to get monetary restitution, and Hugo, who has since settled there. The plot itself is intriguing, and full of dark moments. One gets a sense of loss and mourning from little vignettes- allusions to characters' past suffering, the rubble of a childhood home. The characters are flawed: selfish at many times, flawed- broken? Driven by impulse, be it to block out, fornicate, or to satisfy deep curiosity, both narrative strands of Martin and Hugo are intriguing and give you a sense of fumbling in the dark.
The noir setting is tense and never feels contrived. Events in the plot are gripping enough for me to consider this greatly underappreciated, but it really Litvinoff's careful psychological realism that excels in this book. I'll certainly be looking out for his other writing.
The noir setting is tense and never feels contrived. Events in the plot are gripping enough for me to consider this greatly underappreciated, but it really Litvinoff's careful psychological realism that excels in this book. I'll certainly be looking out for his other writing.
January 19, 2017
This book definitely stirs the emotions. It does a very good job of making you understand the feelings of German Jews after WWII. The feeling of not belonging anywhere and the ambivalence towards the land of their birth. The feelings of betrayal and loss were gut wrenchingly portrayed. The desires for revenge and yet greater still the desire to go back to the way things were before was expertly portrayed.
February 6, 2025
The books goes farther into the psychologicl effects of Jewish Refugees and Germans after WWII and during the Cold War. When it was written in 1968, the book was ahead of it's time, discussing topics that were considered taboo during the 20th Century.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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