Ernst Ottwalt
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Ernst Ottwalt (13 November 1901 – 24 August 1943) was the
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
of German writer and playwright Ernst Gottwalt Nicolas. A communist, he fled
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in 1934 and went into exile in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, where he fell victim to the
Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
and died in a Soviet
gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
. Later, when the
Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members were the "Four Policeme ...
prosecuted Nazi war criminals in the
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
, the chief prosecutor from the Soviet Union quoted from an anti-Nazi book by Ottwalt.


Biography

Ottwalt was born Ernst Gottwalt Nicolas in Zippnow, today Sypniewo, in the district of
Deutsch Krone Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...
in the former
West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...
. He was baptized
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
in Zippnow on 16 March 1902."Konvolut von frühen Urkunden und Dokumenten"
German National Library, exile archive. Retrieved December 19, 2011
He attended
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
in
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Magdeburg as well as t ...
, finishing 15 September 1920. He studied at the universities of Halle and
Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
. After the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he joined the German nationalist
Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...
, but then changed his political views, becoming a communist and joined the Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, or KPD) and the
Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors The Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors () was a German cultural organisation established in 1928, at the time of the Weimar Republic. It was close to the Communist Party of Germany and published a magazine called . Its members were ...
(BPRS)."Ottwalt - eine Karriere"
''Die Zeit'' (October 7, 1977), p. 1. Retrieved December 19, 2011
He described his Freikorps experiences in his 1929 novel ''Ruhe und Ordnung''. In November 1930, Friedrich Neubauer staged his play ''Jeden Tag vier'', about a mine disaster in Neurode in
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
, at the
Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of ...
Bühne. In 1931, he wrote the courtroom novel ''Denn sie wissen was sie tun'', in which Ottwalt portrayed the social structure of the German judiciary.
Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satire, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the Kaspar Hauser, historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wr ...
wrote, "The career of an average German lawyer is portrayed through the means of an early naturalistic novel." The script has since been lost. He collaborated with
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
to write the screenplay for the 1932 film ''
Kuhle Wampe ''Kuhle Wampe'' (full title: ''Kuhle Wampe, oder: Wem gehört die Welt?'', translated in English as ''Kuhle Wampe or Who Owns the World?'', and released in the USA as ''Whither Germany?'' by Kinematrade Inc.) is a 1932 German feature film abo ...
''."Ottwalt - eine Karriere"
''Die Zeit'' (October 7, 1977), p. 2. Retrieved December 19, 2011
A year later, in 1932, his ''Deutschland erwache! Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus'' appeared, an early study of the danger of the Nazi movement. When the May 1933
Nazi book burnings The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union (, ''DSt'') to ceremonially Book burning, burn books in Nazi Germany and First Austrian Republic, Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those viewed ...
took place, Ottwalt's works were on Wolfgang Herrmann's
blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
. In addition, his name was marked with an "x", identifying him as one of the "real vermin", along with
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 Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...
,
Ernst Glaeser Ernst Glaeser (29 July 1902 – 8 February 1963) was a German writer, known for his best-selling pacifist novel ''Jahrgang 1902'' ("Born in 1902"). He was associated with the political left, and went into exile in Switzerland at the start of the N ...
,
Arthur Holitscher Arthur Holitscher (22 August 1869 – 14 October 1941) was a Hungarian playwright, novelist, essayist and writer on traveling. Born into an upper middle-class Jewish merchant family in Pest, Hungary, he began his career working for a bank for s ...
,
Alfred Kerr Alfred Kerr (''né'' Kempner; 25 December 1867 – 12 October 1948, surname: ) was an influential German theatre critic and essayist of Jewish descent, nicknamed the ''Kulturpapst'' ("Culture Pope"). Biography Youth Kerr was born in Breslau ...
,
Egon Erwin Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Racing Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners ...
,
Emil Ludwig Emil Ludwig (25 January 1881 – 17 September 1948) was a German-Swiss author, known for his biographies and study of historical "greats." Biography Emil Ludwig (originally named Emil Cohn) was born in Breslau (now part of Poland) on 25 Ja ...
,
Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; March 27, 1871 – March 11, 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German writer known for his sociopolitical novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...
,
Theodor Plivier Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (Plivier, until 1933) (12 February 1892, Berlin – 12 March 1955, Avegno, Switzerland) was a German writer best known for his 1948 anti-war novel . During World War I, he served on the ''SMS Wolf (1916), SMS Wolf' ...
,
E.M. Remarque Erich Maria Remarque (; ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German novelist. His landmark novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World War ...
,
Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satire, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the Kaspar Hauser, historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wr ...
and
Arnold Zweig Arnold Zweig (; 10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist, and socialist. Early life and education Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son of Adolf Zweig, a Jewish shipping agent and ...
, who were to be "stamped out of bookstores". Ottwalt wrote a
radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
called "Kalifornische Ballade" with
Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...
in 1932. The original broadcast was in 1934 on Flemish radio, with Ernst Busch singing Eisler's songs. The first German broadcast of the play was on East German radio in 1968. It was performed again at
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
's
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...
Theater in May 1970. An early radio play, it tells the story of
Johann August Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in th ...
, a Swiss who emigrated to America in the 19th century. In 1933, Ottwalt and his wife, Waltraut, left Germany and went into exile in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, then, by way of
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, ended up in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Living in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, Ottwalt wrote for the German exile magazine ''Internationale Literatur'' (published by Johannes R. Becher) and was an editor at Vegaar Bibliothek. He also wrote for the ''
Deutsche Zentral Zeitung The ''Deutsche Zentral-Zeitung'' (DZZ; ''German Central Newspaper'') was the German-language newspaper published in Moscow by the German-speaking section of the Communist International. The newspaper's type was set in Fraktur (see image) and co ...
''. In 1936, he and his wife were ensnared in the
Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...
purges In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...
and arrested by the Soviet
secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...
, the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
. He was charged with suspicion of espionage, sentenced to
forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
and deported to a
gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
near Archangelsk. His wife was sentenced to forced labor in
Kotlas Kotlas () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Northern Dvina and Vychegda Rivers. Population: Kotlas is the third-largest town of Arkhangelsk Oblast in terms of p ...
."Nachlass Ernst Ottwalt und Waltraut Nicolas"
German National Library. Retrieved December 19, 2011
She was deported back to Germany in January 1941 and didn't learn about his death until January 1958, when the Soviet
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
informed her that her husband had died on 24 August 1943."Nachricht des sowjetischen Roten Kreuzes über den Tod von Ernst Ottwalt am 24.08.1943"
German National Library (January 18, 1958). Retrieved December 19, 2011


Legacy

After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Ottwalt's name was forgotten, though it came up during the
Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
. Despite the fact that Ottwalt had been condemned to a gulag and had perished there, the Soviet chief prosecutor quoted from ''Deutschland erwache!'' during the trial. A 1974 German
encyclopedic dictionary An encyclopedic dictionary typically includes many short listings, arranged alphabetically, and discussing a wide range of topics. Encyclopedic dictionaries can be general, containing articles on topics in many different fields; or they can s ...
had a listing for him, but no date of death and in the place of death was a question mark. His ''Deutschland erwache!'' ("Germany, wake up!") was later praised as "a brilliant analysis" that grasped the situation before the Nazis seized power. Ottwalt's papers are archived in the
German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...
Exile Archive in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
. The documents include poems, sonnets, manuscripts and correspondence between his widow and Lion Feuchtwanger,
Wieland Herzfelde Wieland Herzfelde ( Herzfeld; 11 April 1896 – 23 November 1988) was a German publisher and writer. He is particularly known for his links with German avant-garde art and Marxist thought, and was the brother of the photo montage artist John H ...
, Susanne Leonhard,
Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and Theatrical producer, producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio- ...
and Wilhelm Sternfeld.


Works (selected list)

Ottwalt's book, "Deutschland erwache!" was one of the earliest analyses of the rise of Nazism. * ''Ruhe und Ordnung'', novel about the life of nationalist-minded youth. Berlin: Malik-Verlag (1929) * ''Denn sie wissen was sie tun'', German courtroom novel. Berlin: Malik-Verlag, (1931) * ''Deutschland erwache!'', analysis of Nazism. Vienna and Leipzig: Hess (1932) * ''Kalifornische Ballade'', radio play written with Hanns Eisler (1932)


Sources

* Andreas W. Mytze, ''Ottwalt. Leben und Werk des vergessenen revolutionären Schriftstellers'', Verlag europäische Ideen, Berlin (1977) * Jürgen Serke, ''Die verbrannten Dichter. Lebensgeschichten und Dokumente''. Weinheim (1992), p. 338–342 * Volker Weidermann, ''Das Buch der verbrannten Bücher'', Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne (2008), p. 148–151.


Footnotes


References


External links

*
Ernst Ottwald and Waltraut Nicolas collection
German National Library, exile archives. Retrieved December 19, 2011
"Projektfahrt nach Archangelsk (Russland)"
Integrierte Gesamtschule Halle. Retrieved December 19, 2011 * Ottwalt's novels

and

Sozialistischen Archiv für Belletristik {{DEFAULTSORT:Ottwalt, Ernst 1901 births 1943 deaths People from Złotów County People from West Prussia Communist Party of Germany politicians 20th-century Freikorps personnel Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union Kapp Putsch participants German male writers University of Halle alumni University of Jena alumni People who died in the Gulag German Gulag detainees German people imprisoned in the Soviet Union German people who died in Soviet detention