And Jimmy went to the rainbow

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And Jimmy went to the rainbow is a novel by Johannes Mario Simmel , published in 1970.

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The Argentine chemist Rafaelo Aranda is poisoned in Vienna by the bookseller Valerie Steinfeld, who is apparently completely unknown to him. Immediately afterwards she committed suicide without giving a motive. His son Manuel Aranda, together with Irene Waldegg, the murderer's niece, tries to find out why his father was killed and comes across his involvement with the secret services of the superpowers of the time during the Cold War .

As part of the investigation, flashbacks are made to the time of National Socialism , since the murderess Valerie Steinfeld had lost her Jewish husband in British exile at that time and tried to turn her “half-Jewish” son Heinz into an “Aryan “To do and so protect him from the National Socialists . What was the relationship between the chemist Rafaelo Aranda and his murderer Valerie Steinfeld?

The book plays in Vienna in the 1960s with detailed descriptions of the locations. It describes the work of the secret services and their unscrupulous approach. The espionage story covered revolves around the development of banned biological weapons of mass destruction . Simmel has incorporated both Austrian local flavor and his training as a chemical engineer. The book is said to be based on true events that happened in a different city. The person of the half-Jewish son bears some of the author's autobiographical traits.

Film adaptations

Also in 1970 Alfred Vohrer's book was made into a film as And Jimmy went to the rainbow . 37 years later, in 2008, a television film was made under the same title with the help of ZDF : And Jimmy went to the rainbow , the plot being partly moved from 1969 to 1996 and from Vienna to Berlin. The program aired on September 24, 2008.

Book editions

First edition:

Current issues: