Death is my job

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Death is my job (in the French original La mort est mon métier ) is a biographical novel by the French writer Robert Merle . The original was published in 1952 by Éditions Gallimard , the German edition in 1957 by Aufbau-Verlag . It describes the life of Rudolf Höß (called Rudolf Lang in the book). This was a commander in the concentration camps of Auschwitz in World War II .

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Rudolf Höß, role model of the fictional character Rudolf Lang, at the court process in Poland

The novel is written in the first person. The first half of the book gives a detailed account of Rudolf Lang's childhood and youth. In describing his childhood, Merle refers to the conclusions of the American psychologist Gustave M. Gilbert , who had conducted a series of interviews with Höss in prison. Central to this is the figure of the strictly Catholic, cold-hearted and pedantic father.

This is followed by Lang's military career as a war volunteer in the Middle East during the First World War and as a volunteer corps member in Lithuania , the Rhineland and Upper Silesia, as well as his career in the NSDAP , the SA and the SS .

In the third part of the work, Lang's activity as a commandant in Auschwitz is described in detail. Here Merle mainly refers to the documents of the Nuremberg Trial as well as to notes that Höss made in Polish custody and that are also available in print in several languages.

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Merle succeeds in depicting the character development of the fictional Rudolf Lang in a form that is based on a thorough knowledge of the biographical facts of Höß. He traces the possible influence of a strictly authoritarian, conservative upbringing on his character development.

filming

The novel was made into a (West) German feature film in 1977 with the title From a German Life , directed by Theodor Kotulla - with Götz George in the leading role.

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interpretation

  • Anne Crochet: "La mort est mon métier" by Robert Merle. Series: Fiche de lecture. Le Petit Littéraire, Paris 2011 ISBN 2806211131

notes

  1. ↑ Also published by several other publishers; the construction editions from 1972 with a three-page afterword by the author
  2. ↑ 24 pages, especially for school purposes; with questions. "La mort est mon métier, rédigé entre 1950 et 1952, appartient à la littérature concentrationnaire dans la mesure où il raconte comment le régime nazi a pu mettre sur pied les camps de concentration d'Auschwitz et de Birkenau. La première partie du récit est une biography romancée de Höss, commandant du camp d'Auschwitz dans les années quarante. À partir des notes du psychologue américain Gustave M. Gilbert, qui a interrogé Höss en prison, Merle a construit le personnage de Rudolf Lang et a imaginé ce qu ' aurait pu être sa vie. La seconde partie du roman est consacrée à l'aspect logistique de la conception et de la construction des camps de concentration; Merle s'est appuyé sur les comptes rendus du procès de Nuremberg ". Also as an online version