Fritz Steuben

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Fritz Steuben , actually Erhard Wittek (born December 3, 1898 in Wongrowitz , German Empire , † June 4, 1981 in Pinneberg ) was a German writer. He is best known today for his series of Indian novels about the Shawano guide Tecumseh .

Life

Erhard Wittek was born in Wongrowitz (now Wągrowiec) and took part in the First World War as a soldier . After the war he completed an apprenticeship as a bookseller and finally became production manager at the Franckh-Kosmos publishing house in Stuttgart .

From 1929 to 1952 he wrote Indian narratives under the pseudonym Fritz Steuben : Eight books of a Tecumseh cycle, which describes the life of the Shawano ( Shawnee ) Tecumseh chief from the childhood until his death according to historical sources, although these are not always accurate.

In 1937 Wittek moved to Neustrelitz , where he has lived and worked as a freelance writer ever since . In 1955 he made his home in Pinneberg; he died there in 1981.

Literary work

Wittek wrote his early books under the influence of National Socialism , such as his 1933 War Memories Breakthrough in the year eighteen. A front experience or his book Der Marsch nach Lowitsch , published in 1940 on behalf of the NSDAP , in which he describes the attack on Poland from a National Socialist point of view (“Poland campaign”). In an essay at the time, Wittek expressed the opinion that as a writer one could only address young people if one took an attitude that "corresponds to their own, today's, National Socialist attitude". He mentions James Fenimore Cooper , Jack London and Rudyard Kipling as his literary role models, whose works quench the “thirst of young men in particular for conquering the world” .

Wittek's books in the Tecumseh series, whose portrayals of the Indian wars are similar to the descriptions of the battles of the First World War, are influenced by National Socialist ideas. As an Indian chief threatened by the aggressors of indigenous peoples, Tecumseh was in historical contradiction and contrary to the racial ideology of the National Socialists and Will Vesper's demand to put an end to "all soft literary enthusiasm for colored people". The Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter of the Warthegau , Arthur Greiser , said in his laudation in 1941 at the award of the Clausewitz Prize of the Reichsstelle für Deutsche Ostforschung to Wittek that his works had been increasing the military strength and willingness of our nation for the Germans for years Ostraum decisively promoted .

reception

Wittek's books had a circulation of 790,000 as early as the 1930s. The Tecumseh series was relocated again after the Second World War and was successful. The writer and literary critic Wieland Freund stated in an article in “ Welt ” in 2010 that Steuben had edited his novels written during the Nazi era and defused them with racist passages in the new edition in the late 1940s and early 1950s however, issues such as loyalty to the leader and allegiance remained. Between 1997 and 1999 Frankh , where the first edition had already been published in the 1930s, published an edition of the Tecumseh volumes "ideologically detoxified" by Nina Schindler .

Many of his writings were placed on the list of literature to be segregated in the Soviet occupation zone . In 1972, however, a Tecumseh film produced by DEFA was released in the GDR .

Because of his exciting Indian stories, Steuben has many admirers and has been positively received by reviewers up to the present. His fellow writer Hans Lipinsky-Gottersdorf describes him in 1961 in his Tales of Manhood (Neue Sammlung, Heft 4 von 1961, p. 324f.) As a “poet of manliness ”, who, however, [unfortunately] “has fallen into disrepute in this country”. There have also been many positive reviews recently, but now without recourse to “discredited” vocabulary. For example, Klaus Peter Creamer writes in the specialist magazine for children's and youth media Eselsohr (Issue 1 of 1998, p. 14): “Steuben's books remain exciting adventure stories with great stories and noble heroes. Literature worth preserving for future generations. ”The lexicon of adventure and travel literature from 1999 opens on page 302f. Steuben highlighted “excellent research” for his Tecumseh novels, which are a “solid core of German literature for young people”. With this in mind, Nina Schindler wrote in a foreword to her revised Der Strahlende Stern in 1997 : “His protagonists really lived, the events took place in the locations described, and so he created a realistic picture of the struggles between white and red . ”It should be emphasized, however, that Steuben himself repeatedly admitted that he took literary freedom and that parts of his stories were“ completely invented ”.

More recently, the role of Steuben's novels in the dissemination of National Socialist ideology has been increasingly discussed in the context of the examination of youth literature under National Socialism. Beate Kröger and Thorsten Meiser (1992) recognize in the Indian hero Tecumseh as well as in his white counterpart Daniel Boon figures acting according to the leader principle . Likewise, the "dogs", which Tecumseh heads and which represent a horde of elite warriors among the Indians, are ultimately to be seen as police, whose powers are similar to those of the Gestapo . In the original edition, the "dogs" have a kind of lictors' bundle as a symbol , which, however, was not used by the Gestapo but by the Italian fascists . The final superiority of the white race would then be demonstrated by the representation of the victory of the whites. Tecumseh ultimately recognized the superiority and victory of the whites, since they could unite and "in war one has to give orders, and that all the others had to obey".

Winfred Kaminski (1999) emphasizes the parallels between Indian stories and memories of war, through which a militaristic and imperialist worldview that is closely linked to National Socialist ideology is spread. According to his findings, Steuben's Tecumseh series is influenced by literary role models such as James Fenimore Cooper's “Dispute of the Races”, Jack London's “Struggle for Existence” and Rudyard Kipling's “Imperialism” (“ The White Man's Burden ”). Kaminski therefore describes the basic ideology of Steuben as the ideology of race and struggle, manhood of men and folk myths. By parallelizing the “land grab” by the Poles after the First World War - Wittek's place of birth fell to the re-established Poland in 1918 - and he also brought the white Americans on the one hand and the role of the Germans and Indians as 'refugees and people without a home' on the other expressed his desire to revise the Versailles Treaty .

Wieland Freund poses in the “Welt” of November 21, 2010 and again in an interview with Susanne Führer from Deutschlandradio Kultur in November 2011 Fritz Steuben as one of the “old Nazi writers” who with the “same stories of loyalty to the authorities and militarism and all the bells and whistles ”continued after the Second World War, compared to the four post-war youth book authors Max Kruse , Michael Ende , Otfried Preußler and James Krüss , who responded“ with a decidedly small literature that upheld the autonomy of childhood and peace, freedom and Fantasy wanted ”.

Translations into other languages

Six volumes of the Tecumseh series (all with the exception of Schneller Fuß and Pfeilmädchen ) were translated into Czech and published from 1937 to 1941 in Czechoslovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by the Prague publishing house Josef Richard Vilímek . A new Czech edition in four volumes was published by Albatros in Prague from 1971 to 1979 and again from 1985 to 1987. Between 1939 and 1943 a Dutch translation of all Tecumseh volumes and of Die Karawane am Persergolf was published. In the 1950s, the Tecumseh series appeared again in Dutch. In Slovene published by Mladinska knjiga in Ljubljana (then Yugoslavia ) in 1964 and 1965, translations by Branimir Kozinc of all eight volumes of the post-war edition of Tecumseh (Tekumze) , 1970 of the Mississippi saga .

Works (selection)

Erhard Wittek

  • The book as an advertising medium. 1926.
  • The caravan at the Persian Gulf. 1935.
  • Men. A book of pride. 1936.
  • Breakthrough in eighteen. A front experience. 1933.
  • Probation of the heart. Novella, 1937.
  • Dream in February. Story, 1939.
  • A cup of water and other incidents from Poland. 1940.
  • The march to Lowitsch. A report. 1940.
  • The soldier's act. Reports of fellow combatants in the army in the western campaign in 1940 ed. v. High Command d. Army, selected and edit by Erhard Wittek
  • The soldierly act, Der Kampf im Osten 1941/42 ed. v. High Command d. Army, selected and edit by Erhard Wittek
  • For the benefit of the fatherland ... Story, 1944.

Pseudonym Fritz Steuben

  • Tecumseh series, since 1930.
    • 1. Fast foot and arrow girl. 1935.
    • 2. The flying arrow. 1930.
    • 3. The red storm. 1931.
    • 4. Tecumseh, the mountain lion. 1932.
    • 5. The shining star. 1934.
    • 6. Tecumseh, the great seer. 1934.
    • 7. The son of Manitu. 1938.
    • 8. Call of the Forests. first part of Tecumseh's death. appeared separately from 1951
    • 9. Tecumseh's death. 1939.
  • The honest tax collector. Little stories from the east. 1949.
  • Wolfram goes to South Tyrol. The story of a childhood friendship. 1937. Second edition as Wolfram goes to the Dolomites. 1942. Third edition. again as Wolfram goes to South Tyrol. 1949.
  • Probation of the heart. 1949.
  • The Anna. Novel. 1951.
  • There behind the glass mountain. 1952.
  • Two girls like a dog and a cat. A happy book from happy days. Illustrations by Ulrik Schramm . 1954.
  • The Mullers are moving. Two girls like dogs and cats in their new home. Illustrations by Ulrik Schramm. 1955.
  • Gunnar from the Ice Land. 1957.
  • Mississippi saga. Sieur de La Salle, explorer, conqueror, nobleman. 1956.
  • Tragedy on the Mississippi. 1957.
  • The long ride. Novel. 1960.
  • Old Witt and other stories from the east. 1963.
  • On a long journey. Hikes between Pregel and Beskydy. 1966.
  • The purest model children. Illustrations by Heiner Rothfuchs . 1968.
  • The heir to the throne. Prince's son Ibn Saud founds what is now the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 1976.

Translations

literature

  • Barbara Haible: Indians in the service of Nazi ideology. Investigations into the function of books for young people about North American Indians in National Socialism. (= Poetica series of publications. Volume 32), Kovač Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-86064-751-2 ( table of contents )
  • Winfred Kaminski: Heroic inwardness. Studies on youth literature before and after 1945 (= youth and media. Volume 14). dipa-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-7638-0127-8 .
  • Piotr Korek: On the problem of race ideology in Erhard Wittek and Fritz Steuben's books for young people. In: Zeitschrift für Germanistik 11 (1990), pp. 402–407.
  • Thomas Kramer : Tecumseh and Toka-itho: Noble savages among red brothers. To the reception of the Indian books by Fritz Steuben and Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich in the GDR. In: Berliner Blätter. Ethnographic and ethnological contributions.
  • Thomas Kramer: Heiner Müller on the torture stake. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 3-89528-548-X .
  • Günter Waldmann: The ideology of the narrative form. With a model analysis of Nazi literature. (= Uni pocket books. 525). Fink, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-7705-1332-0 .

Honors

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deutsches Historisches Museum (as): Nazi literature 1933–39 , November 9, 2001.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Winfred Kaminski: Indian books - the secret war novels? For example Fritz Steuben (di Erhard Wittek) . In: Ursula Heukenkamp (Hrsg.): Schuld und Atonement ?: War experience and war interpretation in German media of the post-war period (1945–1961: International Conference from September 1st to 4th, 1999 in Berlin) (=  Amsterdam contributions to modern German studies ). Rodopi, 2001, ISBN 90-420-1455-5 , pp. 201-215 .
  3. ↑ Isa Schikorsky: A short history of children's and youth literature . Book on Demand, 2012, ISBN 978-3-8423-5133-2 , pp. 111 .
  4. ↑ Curt Suffa: Erhard Wittek, a poet of the Wartheland. Memories of war and wandering years. In: Litzmannstädter Zeitung. Vol. 24. No. 357/358 from 25./26. December 1941, entertainment supplement, p. (5) ( online as PDF).
  5. ↑ a b Wieland Freund: Jim Knopf and the wild sixty-eight. Die Welt , November 21, 2010, accessed January 3, 2014 .
  6. ↑ polunbi.de
  7. ↑ polunbi.de
  8. ↑ polunbi.de
  9. ↑ polunbi.de
  10. ↑ a b Beate Kröger, Thorsten Meiser: Tecumseh . In: Werner Graf (Ed.): Literature & Experience: Gift in the bookcase. Reading for young people under National Socialism . No. 24/25 . Literature & Experience, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-9801659-5-7 , p. 78-95 .
  11. ↑ Wieland Freund, in conversation with Susanne Führer: I am proud to be in the same business. On his 90th birthday - Wieland's friend about Max Kruse, Urmel's father. Deutschlandradio Kultur, November 18, 2011.
  12. ↑ Rudí hrdinové I. - Letící šíp, Jos. R. Vilímek, Praha 1937, přeložil Ferdinand Romportl. Rudí hrdinové II. - Rudá bouře, Jos. R. Vilímek, Praha 1938, přeložil Ferdinand Romportl. Rudí hrdinové III. - Tecumseh a Kožená punčocha, Jos. R. Vilímek, Praha 1938, přeložil Josef Hrůša. Rudí hrdinové IV. - Zářící hvězda, Jos. R. Vilímek, Praha 1938, přeložil Eugen Kellner. Rudí hrdinové V. - Syn Manituův, Jos. R. Vilímek, Prague 1941, přeložil Frantiček Heller. Rudí hrdinové VI. - Tecumsehova smrt, Jos. R. Vilímek, Prague 1941, přeložil Josef Hrůša.
  13. ↑ Tekmuseh first Albatros, Praha 1971, přeložil Antonín Tejnor, obsahuje Letící šíp a Rudá bouře, znovu 1985. Tekmuseh 2. Albatros, Praha 1973 přeložil Antonín Tejnor, obsahuje Horský lev a Záříčí hvězda, znovu 1985. Tekmuseh 3. Albatros, Praha 1976, přeložil Antonín Tejnor, obsahuje Manitouův syn a první část Volání lesů, znovu 1986. Tekmuseh 4. Albatros, Praha 1979, přeložil Antonín Tejnor, obsahuje dokončení Volání lesů a Tekumsehova smurt 1987.
  14. ↑ De vliegende pijl. Een verhaal uit het leven van Tecumseh (1939); De stralende ster (1940); De rode storm. Een verhaal uit het leven van Tecumseh (about 1940?); Snelvoet en pijlkind (around 1940?); Tecumseh de Bergleeuw (1940); De dood van Tecumseh (1941); Snelvoet en pijlkind (1941); De karavaan aan de Perzian Gulf. Een avontuurlijke krijgstocht door de Arabische woestijn (1943).
  15. ↑ De rode storm. Een verhaal uit het leven van Tecumseh (1948). Fritz Steuben; vertaler: Tjeerd Bottema. De stralende ster: een verhaal uit het leven van Tecumseh. 's-Gravenhage: GB van Goor, [1951]. Fritz Steuben; vertaler: Philip Exel. Tecumseh de bergleeuw. Verhalen uit het leven van Tecumseh. 's-Gravenhage: Djakarta van Goor 1954, [1954]. Fritz Steuben; vertaler: Philip Exel. De zoon van Manitou. Verhalen uit het leven van Tecumseh. 's-Gravenhage Djakarta van Goor 1954, [1954].
  16. ^ 1. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc, Anton Hoffmann: Gorski lev - boj rdečega človeka za svojo pravico . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1965. 2. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc, Willy Goertzen: Hitra noga in bela puščica - povest iz časa, ko je Tekumzeju bilo dvanajst let . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1964. 3. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc, Willy Widmann: Manitujev sin - povest o krvavem osvobodilnem boju rdečekožcev . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1965. 4. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc: Žareča zvezda - povest o Tekumzejevi slavi . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1965. 5. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc: Klic gozdov - povest o Tekumzejevem boju za njegovo ljudstvo . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1965. 6. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc: Tekumzejeva smrt - povest o tragičnem koncu velikega človeka . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1965. 7. Fritz Steuben; Branimir Kozinc; Willy Widmann; Kurt Wendlandt: Leteča puščica - povest iz Tekumzejevega življenja po starih virih . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1964. 8. Fritz Steuben, Branimir Kozinc, Anton Hoffmann u. a .: Rdeči vihar - povest o prvih indijanskih vojnah za Ohajo . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1964.
  17. ^ Fritz Steuben: Saga o Misisipiju . Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1970. 320 pages.
  18. ↑ Helga Strallhofer-Mitterbauer: Nazi literature prices of Austrian authors. A documentation (= literature in history, history in literature. Vol. 27). Böhlau, Wien / Köln / Weimar 1994 ISBN 3-205-98204-5 , p. 88 ( online preview at Google Books).
  19. ↑ Helga Strallhofer-Mitterbauer: Nazi literature prices of Austrian authors. A documentation (= literature in history, history in literature. Vol. 27). Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 1994 ISBN 3-205-98204-5 , p. 80 ( online preview at Google Books).
  20. ^ The first winners of the Clauswitz Prize. In: Litzmannstädter Zeitung. Vol. 25, No. 296 of October 24, 1942, p. (5) ( online as PDF).
personal data
SURNAME Steuben, Fritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wittek, Erhard (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Wongrowitz , German Empire
DATE OF DEATH 4th June 1981
Place of death Pinneberg