Herbert Jobst (July 30, 1915 – June 28, 1990) was a German writer.

Life

Herbert Jobst was the son of a miner from Neu- Welzow,

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

who died in

World War I 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 ...

. As a small child, he would be abandoned by his mother in

Radeberg Radeberg is a small town in the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. It is located approximately 20 kilometres north-east of Dresden. The town has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, and an old castle. History Rade ...

and spend his youth in homes and with different

foster parents Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member ...

. After his attendance of the

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

, he completed training as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

. In the following years, he became a member of the Sozialistische Arbeiter-Jugend (Socialist Worker Youth) the ''Roten Falken'' (Red Falcons) and ''Naturfreunde'' (Nature Friends). He would be drafted to the labour service for the "Nazi Re-education". In 1934, Jobst went to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Italy and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, where he led the life of a vagabond and he survived by begging, provisional money of the printers guild and casual work for water. The Austrian authorities

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

him into the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

in 1937 where he would be drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

however because of the ''

Wehrkraftzersetzung ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' or ''Zersetzung der Wehrkraft'' ( German for "corroding of defensive strength") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945. ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' was enacted in 1938 b ...

'' (subversion of military strength) he was quickly sent to the Military Prison Torgau. With the breakout of

World War II 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 ...

, he received casual work at the so-called ''Frontbewährung'' (Front Probation). Jobst participated as a soldier of the Wehrmacht at the Eastern Front and would be imprisoned in

Heiligenbeil The term Heiligenbeil can refer to: *The German name of Mamonovo, Russia * Heiligenbeil concentration camp built near Mamonovo *Heiligenbeil Pocket The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron () was the site of a major encirclement battle o ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

as a Soviet

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. Until 1947, he worked in Tscheljabinsk,

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

in the Camp 8 coal mine. He returned to Germany in 1947, starting as a night watchman in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. From 1948 to 1956 he worked for Wismut-AG beginning as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

and extraction man. Since he completed a study at the

Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (abbreviation: TU Bergakademie Freiberg, TUBAF) is a public university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The university's focuses are exploration, minin ...

in 1952/53, he was promoted to climber. After his first writing attempt, he would become a member of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Junger Autoren. In 1957 he moved to

Flöha Flöha () is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Flöha is situated on the confluence of the rivers Zschopau (river), Zschopau and Flöha (river), Flöha, east of Chemnitz. Flöha station connects the town to Dresden, ...

, Saxony making a living as a writer and then lived

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

from 1967 until his death in 1990. He would marry lyrical poet Lisa Jobst. Herbert Jobst was a writer of novels, narratives and screenplays. His best known work was the much read in East Germany, being the powerful autobiographical colored Novel Tetralogy ''Der dramatische Lebensweg des Adam Probst'' (The Dramatic Way of Life of Adam Probst). In them, the author tells the life story of a social outcast who endures

Simplicius Simplicissimus ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' () is a picaresque novel of the lower Baroque style, written in five books by German author Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen published in 1668, with the sequel ''Continuatio'' appearing in 1669. Inspired b ...

thing, above all in the group ''Der Vagabund'', in a popular, humor filled to satirical tone. Herbert Jobst received the 1958

Heinrich Mann Prize The Heinrich Mann Prize () is an essay prize that has been awarded since 1953, first by the East German Academy of Arts, then by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. The prize, which comes with a €10,000 purse, is given annually on 27 March, Heinrich ...

and the 1965 Kunstpreis des Bezirkes Karl-Marx-Stadt in addition to the

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation ( or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 to 1990. As a mass organisation of the GDR, nominally representing al ...

Prize and Fritz Reuter Prize the same year.

Works

* ''Der Findling'', Berlin 1957 * ''Der Zögling'', Berlin 1959 * ''Der Vagabund'', Berlin 1963 * ''Blick auf Irdisches'', Rostock 1969 (together with Klaus Beuchler and Egon Richter) * ''Der Glücksucher'', Berlin 1973 * ''Tapetenwechsel'', Berlin 1983

Literature

* Anita Heiden-Berndt (Editor): ''Herbert Jobst'', Neubrandenburg 1981 * Stephan Gruner: ''Im Streit um die Geschichte'', Berlin 1989

External links

Lisa Jobst und Herbert Jobst: Vom Bergman zum Schriftsteller (From Miner to Writer)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jobst, Herman 1915 births 1990 deaths People from Spree-Neiße Writers from the Province of Brandenburg German male writers Writers from Brandenburg Heinrich Mann Prize winners German military personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union