Arnold Zweig
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Arnold Zweig (10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist and socialist. He is best known for his six-part cycle on
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.


Life and work

Zweig was born in Glogau,
Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official ...
(now Głogów, Poland), the son of a Jewish saddler. (He is not related to
Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...
.) After attending a gymnasium in Kattowitz (
Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...
), he made extensive studies in history, philosophy and literature at several universities – Breslau (
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...
),
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
,
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
,
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state ...
and
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...
. He was especially influenced by
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
's philosophy. His first literary works, ''Novellen um Claudia'' (1913) and ''Ritualmord in Ungarn'', gained him wider recognition. Zweig volunteered for the German army in World War I and saw action as a private in France, Hungary and Serbia. He was stationed in the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
at the time when
Judenzählung Judenzählung (, German for "Jew census / counting") was a measure instituted by the German ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' (OHL) in October 1916, during the upheaval of World War I. Designed to confirm accusations of the lack of patriotism among Ger ...
(the Jewish census) was administered in the German army. Shaken by the experience, he wrote in his letter dated 15 February 1917, to
Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...
: "The Judenzählung was a reflection of unheard sadness for Germany's sin and our agony. ... If there was no antisemitism in the army, the unbearable call to duty would be almost easy." He began to revise his views on the war and came to view the war as one that pitted Jews against Jews. Later he described his experiences in the short story ''Judenzählung vor Verdun''. The war changed Zweig from a Prussian patriot to an eager pacifist. By the end of the war he was assigned to the Press department of the German Army Headquarters in Kaunas and there he was first introduced to the East European Jewish organizations. In a quite literal effort to put a face to the hated 'Ostjude' (Eastern European Jew), due to their Orthodox, economically depressed, "unenlightened", "un-German" ways, Zweig published with the artist Hermann Struck ''Das ostjüdische Antlitz'' (''The Face of East European Jewry'') in 1920. This was a blatant effort to at least gain sympathy among German-speaking Jews for the plight of their eastern European brethren. With the help of many simple sketches of faces, Zweig supplied interpretations and meaning behind them. After World War I he was an active socialistic
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
in Germany. After
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's attempted coup in 1923 Zweig went to Berlin and worked as an editor of a newspaper, the ''Jüdische Rundschau''. In the 1920s, Zweig became attracted to the psychoanalytical theories of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
and underwent Freudian therapy himself. In March 1927 Zweig wrote to Freud asking permission to dedicate his new book to Freud. In the letter Zweig told Freud: "I personally owe to your psychological therapy the restoration of my whole personality, the discovery that I was suffering from a neurosis and finally the curing of this neurosis by your method of treatment." Freud returned this ardent letter with a warm letter of his own, and the Freud-Zweig correspondence continued for a dozen years – momentous years in Germany's history. This correspondence is extensive and interesting enough to have been published in book form. In 1927 Zweig published the anti-war novel ''
The Case of Sergeant Grischa ''The Case of Sergeant Grischa'' (1927) is a war novel by the German writer Arnold Zweig. Its original German title is ''Der Streit um den Sergeanten Grischa''. It is part of Zweig's hexalogy ''Der große Krieg der weißen Männer'' (The great w ...
'', which made him an international literary figure. The theme of his sequence of World War I fiction is that Germany was perverted by brutal men who shifted the purpose of the war from defense to conquest. Major contestants in this struggle are characters in his books. Some, like Kaiser Wilhelm II, Field Marshal von Hindenburg, and commander on the Eastern Front during the last two years of the war Prince Leopold of Bavaria, are named. Others are masked, but would have been easily identified by many readers at the time: for example, General Ludendorff is "Schieffenzahn", the politician Matthias Erzberger is "Deputy Hemmerle", General Max Hoffmann is "Clauss", and Field Marshal von Eichorn is "von Lychow". From 1929 he was a contributing journalist of socialist newspaper '' Die Weltbühne'' (''World Stage''). That year, Zweig would attend one of
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's speeches. He told his wife that the man was a
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
without the talent. In 1933, Zweig witnessed the destruction of his books in the
Nazi book burning The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union (, ''DSt'') to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those viewed as being subversive or as representin ...
. He remarked that the crowds "would have stared as happily into the flames if live humans were burning." He decided to leave Germany that night.


Exile in Palestine

When the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
took power in Germany in 1933, Zweig was one of many Jews who immediately went into voluntary exile. Zweig went first to
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, then Switzerland and France. After spending some time with
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
,
Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. Feuchtwanger's Ju ...
,
Anna Seghers Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of a German writer notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and married to a Hungarian ...
and
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
in France, he set out for
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
, then under British rule. In
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, Palestine, he published a German-language newspaper, the ''Orient''. In Palestine, Zweig became close to a group of German-speaking immigrants who felt distant from Zionism and viewed themselves as refugees or exiles from Europe, where they planned to return. This group included Max Brod, Else Lasker-Schüler and Wolfgang Hildesheimer. During his years in Palestine, Zweig became disillusioned with Zionism and turned to
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
. In Haifa, Zweig underwent psychoanalysis with Ilya Schalit. His novels ''De Vriendt Goes Home'' and ''A Costly Dream'' are partly set in Mandatory Palestine and describe, among other things, the encounter between Zionism, socialism and psychoanalysis. In ''De Vriendt Goes Home'', a young Zionist, recently immigrated to Palestine from Eastern Europe, kills the Dutch Jew De Vriendt who, on the basis of a more orthodox religious sentiment, was seeking an understanding with the local Arab population. During his stay in Palestine, Zweig may have been the main link between Freud and the local psychoanalytic community. His 1947 book concerned the
Altona Bloody Sunday Altona Bloody Sunday (german: Altonaer Blutsonntag) is the name given to the events of 17 July 1932 when a recruitment march by the Nazi SA led to violent clashes between the police, the SA and supporters of the Communist Party of Germany ...
(''Altonaer Blutsonntag'') riot, an SA march on 17 July 1932 that turned violent and led to 18 people being shot dead, with four Communists including Bruno Tesch subsequently being beheaded for their alleged involvement.


East Germany

In 1948, after a formal invitation from the East German authorities, Zweig decided to return to the
Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
in Germany (which became
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
in 1949). In East Germany he was in many ways involved in the communist system. He was a member of parliament, delegate to the
World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization with the self-described goals of advocating for universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mas ...
Congresses and the cultural advisory board of the communist party. He was President of the DDR
Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...
from 1950 to 1953. He was rewarded with many prizes and medals by the regime. The
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
awarded him the Lenin Peace Prize (1958) for his anti-war novels. He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
seven times. After 1962, due to poor health, Zweig virtually withdrew from the political and artistic fields. Arnold Zweig died in
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...
on 26 November 1968, aged 81.


Bibliography

* . * , republished in revised form as . * ''Ritualmord in Ungarn (Ritual Murder in Hungary), 1914'' * . *''Playthings of Time'' * ''Der große Krieg der weißen Männer'' 'The Great War of the White Men''- a cycle in six parts ** . ** . ** . ** . ** . ** . * . * . * . * . * .


Film adaptations

* '' The Case of Sergeant Grischa'' (1930), US film directed by
Herbert Brenon Herbert Brenon (born Alexander Herbert Reginald St. John Brenon; 13 January 1880 – 21 June 1958) was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through the 1930s. Brenon was among the early film ...
. This film is presumed lost, as no negative or print material is known to have survived. * '' The Axe of Wandsbek'' (1951), directed by
Falk Harnack Falk Harnack (2 March 1913 – 3 September 1991) was a German director and screenwriter. During Germany's Nazi era, he was also active with the German Resistance and toward the end of World War II, the partisans in Greece. Harnack was from a fam ...
, produced in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
* ''Der Streit um den Sergeanten Grischa'' (1968), directed by Helmut Schiemann as a TV film in two parts for the
East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
broadcaster
Deutscher Fernsehfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programming ...
* ' (1970), East German film directed by
Egon Günther Egon Günther (30 March 1927 – 31 August 2017)
in:
* ''Erziehung vor Verdun'' (1973), East German film directed by Egon Günther * ' (1982), a West German TV film
docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...
directed by
Heinrich Breloer Heinrich Breloer (, born 17 February 1942 in Gelsenkirchen) is a German author and film director. He has mainly worked on docudramas related to modern German history and has received many awards. Breloer's 2005 docudrama ''Speer und Er'' was descr ...
and


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...


References


Further reading

* . * . * Cohen, Robert, "Arnold Zweig's War Novellas of 1914 and their Versions: Literature, Modernity, and the Demands of the Day." ''War, Violence and the Modern Condition.'' Bernd Hüppauf (ed.). De Gruyter, 1997. 277–289. * . *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zweig, Arnold 1887 births 1968 deaths People from Głogów People from the Province of Silesia Cultural Association of the GDR members Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the 1st Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Members of the 3rd Volkskammer Members of the 4th Volkskammer East German writers 20th-century German novelists German male novelists German newspaper editors German anti-war activists Jewish novelists German Zionists Jewish socialists Jewish German writers German Jewish military personnel of World War I Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Exilliteratur writers Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Kleist Prize winners Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp) Lenin Peace Prize recipients