Save yourself who can (story)

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Save yourself who can is a short story from Auf Sand , a volume of short stories by Stefan Heym , which appeared in Germany in 1990 and represents his first literary reaction to the events that went down in history as the turning point and later as reunification . Beyond all national euphoria Stefan Heym directed in his stories a disillusioned view of the recent German states, the pervasive corruption of thought and action, to the opportunism and the Wendefreudigkeit former apparatchiks , the uncritical adoption of Western values.

action

The story is about the former VEB lathes and drilling machines, which after the fall of the Wall was taken over by the company "Wesendonck & Brendel" based in Duisburg, Basel and Glasgow.

There is great uncertainty among the workforce about their professional and personal future, as described by the first-person narrator , the economic director of VEB Lathe and Drilling Machines, at the beginning of the story.

The narrator is the link between his insecure workforce and his then and still current superiors, Comrade Siegmund Seybold and State Secretary Dr. Müller-Kraschutzki again. All three are negotiating separately with the new owner of the company in order to position themselves in the most promising position possible in the new company. Comrade Seybold and State Secretary Müller-Kraschutzki, who act indirectly against each other, each oblige the economic director of the company to mediate them as the new Vice President of "Wesendonck & Brendel" with the prospect of an appropriate revenge.

With the better relations, the State Secretary already seems to have his position safe when he is unexpectedly found guilty of a committee of inquiry "of abuse of power, like pretty much all other offenses that an economic functionary of the old regime could be accused of".

Interestingly enough, the verdict comes about through the testimony of Comrade Seybold, among other things. Dr. Müller-Kraschutzki evade by going abroad overnight. In the VEB lathes and drilling machines, there is then a staff meeting between the workforce and the new owners. At this event, “Wesendonck & Brendel” will introduce the new company and promise the employees an exaggeratedly positive future. At first, the staff do not understand the rhetorical style of the new owners, but Comrade Seybold "rushes to help" and saves the situation with a few clever sentences.

Mr. Wesendonck apologized for any misunderstandings by stating that the man in the company management was already on the way for better communication, but the machine from Moscow was delayed. In the later course of the event, Comrade Seybold, in dialogue with Mr. Wesendonck, tried again and again to direct the conversation to his personal future in the company, but received general phrases such as “certain positions would open up for men with experience in Eastern business. “No specific answer. The story ends with the arrival of the Eastern specialist from Moscow. The visibly shocked Comrade Seybold greets him with the words: "State Secretary Müller-Kraschutzki and I are old friends, and I hope we will stay that way."

shape

Heym chooses a homodiegetic first-person narrator for the narrative , the economic director of VEB Dreh- und Bohrmaschinen. An inner monologue is the immediate introduction to the story. “What does the store not belong to me? Of course it's not mine, but who else is going to take care of it? The Politburo perhaps? ”The sequence of events remains ostensibly chronological within the story, and is reproduced quickly. Nevertheless, an analepsis can be found at the beginning of the text when the narrator tells the reader about a previous course, and Seybold's intentions become clear. Heym also chooses an authorial narrative style in the course of the text in order to report on incidents far from the main character. “Then Comrade Müller-Kraschutzki fell after all. Nobody had expected such a thing to happen to him; The whole world was convinced that it was covered all round and across the board. ”In all the narrative forms used by Heym, the“ telling ”remains superficial due to the commentary interference of the narrator.

interpretation

In his story, Heym relentlessly portrays the circumstances of the upheaval in the GDR at that time, as well as those in people's minds. This is how Pateau and Strasser put it:

“The behavior of the past has lost its validity in the new era and values ​​that were regarded as certain under socialism are now being put into perspective. Nevertheless, those who used to get along well with the system in the GDR are also best able to cope with the new circumstances. Those who were at the top in socialist times will also make it in the new era, like the former State Secretary Müller-Kraschutzki (easy to recognize as Schalck-Golodkowski) in Rescue Who Can, who succeeds despite proceedings against him because of the abuse of power to secure a job as an adviser to the East in industry, thereby playing off his former subordinates, who in turn believed they were less burdened than him and could therefore get his job. Now you have to come to terms with him again if you want to work in the company. The relationships of dependency have not changed, they have only shifted from the official, state to the private sector. Almost all of the figures shown have one thing in common: They are opportunists who try to come to terms with anyone in power and have thereby contributed significantly to the collapse of their state. "

McCardle also confirms this fact, “There was never any genuine loyalty on the part of the managers to the system or to the workers. When it became apparent months before the Wende the system could not survive, Seybold and the author, and obviously Müller-Kraschutzki, sent out feelers to West German companies. It is amazing how quick they are to jump ship and join the "class enemy". " (German: "There was never any real loyalty on the part of the managers to the system or to the employees. When it became obvious months before the fall of the Wall that the system could not survive, Seybold and the narrator, and of course Müller-Kraschutzki, cleverly sounded out the situation to find accommodation in a West German company. It is amazing how quickly they “leave the sinking ship” and join the former “class enemy”. ”)“ In the final analysis the workers were never owners of their nationally owned companies. The state and its political system which said they were was build on sand. " (German: "Ultimately, the workers were never owners of their state-owned enterprises. The state and the political system that gave them this impression was built on sand.")

literature

Primary literature

Secondary literature

  • UE Beitter (Ed.): Writing in Today's Germany: Questions to the Past . Peter Lang, New York 1998.
  • Arthur W. McCardle: Stefan Heyms "Built on Sand". Reversible and reversible necks. In: UE Beitter (Ed.): Writing in Today's Germany. Questions about the past (= Contemporary German Literature and Society, Volume 2). Lang, New York 1998, pp. 111-149
  • S. Pateau and A. Strasser: In Search of Lost Socialism. The writer Stefan Heym as the moral authority of the time of change. In: Germanica. 2005.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 2.
  2. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 91.
  3. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 95.
  4. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 95.
  5. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 96.
  6. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 81.
  7. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 82.
  8. ↑ Stefan Heym: Built on sand. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-570-01458-4 , p. 88.
  9. ↑ S. Pateau and A. Strasser: In search of the lost socialism. The writer Stefan Heym as the moral authority of the time of change. In: Germanica. 2005.
  10. ↑ Arthur W. McCardle: Stefan Heyms "Built on Sand". Reversible and reversible necks. In: UE Beitter (Ed.): Writing in Today's Germany. Questions about the past (= Contemporary German Literature and Society, Volume 2). Lang, New York 1998, p. 132.