who we are

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Who we are is a 2012 novel by the German writer Sabine Friedrich about the German resistance against National Socialism . Together with the novel, a workshop report appeared in which Friedrich reports on the six years of work on her novel.

content

The novel tells the story of all major German resistance groups against National Socialism, i.e. the Red Orchestra , the White Rose , the Kreisau Circle and July 20 . The focus is on the life stories and the motives for action of the men and women of these circles, who are intertwined with one another in private and family terms, regardless of all ideological differences. But also communist groups or the fate of individuals like Georg Elser are at least touched on. The novel, according to Spiegel an “encyclopedia of the German resistance in the shell of a novel”, was initially planned as a play, but grew to over 2000 pages over the course of six years of work. Beginning in 1917 in Milwaukee , the hometown of the Hitlerite opponent Mildred Harnack , who was executed in Plötzensee in 1943 , he takes the reader to the German Empire, then through the Weimar Republic and National Socialism to the post-war period in divided Germany.

structure

The novel is divided into two parts: Book I deals primarily with the men and women around the married couples Libertas and Harro Schulze-Boysen and Mildred and Arvid Harnack (i.e. with what the Gestapo later called the Red Chapel ) and with the resistance groups Hans von Dohnanyi (Foreign Office / Defense) and his brother-in-law Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Confessing Church). This first part ends a few days before the July 20th attack.

The plot of Book II begins again in the Empire, but then continues beyond the end of the war. The focus here is on the Kreisau Circle (around the couple Freya and Helmuth James Graf von Moltke and Marion and Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg ) as well as the men and women of July 20, 1944. Overall, the complex, often collage-like structure of the novel is reminiscent of the of a network: the action is repeatedly pushed forward to a certain point, then it breaks off, and a new thread is tied, another protagonist is picked up and led to this point of the action.

reception

The treatment of the topic as a novel provoked very contrary reactions in the press. Above all, the fact that the work is written in role prose, i.e. consistently from the perspective of the protagonists, caused some excitement. Jens Jessen (columnist for ZEIT and grandson of the resistance fighter of the same name from the Goerdeler circle, not mentioned in the novel ), for example, was upset that he had found a “Landserheft more honest”. And Helmut Böttiger commented in the Süddeutsche : “It's a big topic, and Sabine Friedrich has obviously read a lot to get to know the historical constellations. But unfortunately she was not satisfied with letting the historical facts speak for themselves. Instead, she empathizes with the characters involved and creates fictional scenes and dialogues. ”Which is why the reviewer compared the novel with a children's book.

Volker Heigenmooser, on the other hand, describes the novel as a “historical novel of ideas” and a “huge narrative” and believes that Böttiger “made a monkey of himself” with his criticism.

Helga W. Schwarz from the study group of German resistance sees the quality of the novel in the “wide-ranging documentation of moving fates”, which in her opinion can be described as “a monumental work, a great historical panorama picture” as well as a “historical love and social novel, On a documentary basis, a panorama of time comes to life in broad strands of the story and, above all, presents the developments and decisions in a humanly understandable way. With regard to the individual fates - also with regard to their decision to actively resist a murderous regime, precisely out of love for life - this novel, which is unusually extensive despite all editing and cuts, is able to achieve a strong emotional response. "

The reviewer for Deutsche Welle also considers the spelling, which remains close to the protagonists' experience, to be the real quality of the novel: “An opulent description, almost something like an epic, which explores the limits of existential problems (...) Sabine Friedrich doesn't just leave recognize how many similar insights and interests the members of the different groups had, but also shows the network of family and friendly relationships between the opposition members. Could it have been possible to stand together against Hitler, beyond all political differences? A question that is repeatedly phrased in the book, but of course cannot be answered. A legitimate question, as historian Peter Steinbach thinks. (...) Steinbach (...) finds it legitimate that a new look at historical events is thrown today with the means of a novel. "

The Focus recommends the work as “an important and touching novel that asks timeless questions that we cannot avoid answering even today ... a book that you should definitely read” “Even for historically savvy readers there is plenty of people and the multitude of locations to which Sabine Friedrich kidnaps us, almost overwhelming ", criticizes the online edition of Focus, wants a name register and thinks that one has to be very careful not to" not "with all the leaps in time and the change in staff to lose the connection ", but then continues:" But what she has undoubtedly succeeded in is to bring the people behind the people frozen in history to life, the people with their fears, doubts, errors and detours, their inner strength and their faith. Sabine Friedrich remains historically accurate, always close to the sources, but never ends up teaching. It spans more than half a century of German history. We learn as much about everyday life at that time, about the prevailing zeitgeist, as the people of this very distant epoch thought and felt. That is why 'Who we are' is not just a book about the German resistance, but also a great social novel "

Dieter Unolzen also comes to the conclusion: "By portraying the protagonists of the resistance in their family, cultural and political contexts, Sabine Friedrich links society panoramas, political thrillers and family sagas into a reading adventure with a seemingly easy hand."

Alex Dengler assumes that the novel will “last for decades. The heroes of civil society who rebelled against National Socialism have never been depicted in such detail and spectacular. Melodic and rich in images (...), but also cool, hard and political. She finds the right tone for every scene. (...) A milestone in German literature "

And Gerhard Spörl stated succinctly in the Spiegel: “The book is one of the spectacular new publications this fall”.

literature

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhard Spörl, Der Spiegel 40/2012
  2. ↑ http://www.wer-wir-sind.de/autor.cfm
  3. ↑ Jens Jessen, DIE ZEIT, October 31, 2012
  4. ↑ Helmut Böttiger, Süddeutsche Zeitung, January 10, 2013
  5. ↑ http://www.literaturkritik.de/public/rezension.php?rez_id=18573
  6. ↑ Helga W. Schwarz, study group of German resistance, “information 77”, p. 45
  7. ^ Sarah Hofmann, Deutsche Welle October 12, 2012
  8. ↑ Focus October 8, 2012
  9. ↑ FOCUS Online: http://www.focus.de/kultur/buecher/literatur-sabine-friedrich-epos-ueber-den- resistance_aid_840474.html
  10. ↑ http://www.np-coburg.de/regional/feuilleton/Die-Menschen-des-Widerstand;art83474,2132458
  11. ↑ denglers-buchkritik.de Column No. 220 of November 12, 2012
  12. ↑ Gerhard Spörl, SPIEGEL 40/2012