In contrast to many other German writers, Hans Fallada (1893-1947) did not leave Nazi Germany . He chose to stay because he couldn’t imagine uprooting himself from his beloved language and country. His depiction of social misfits, influenced by his personal experience (struggle with alcohol and morphine addiction) resonates with readers of the 21st century as much as it did for his contemporaries.
We will be introduced to two of Fallada’s books: The first, A Stranger in my Own Country, is his memoir, written while he was in prison and smuggled by him out of prison. This "underground" book reveals insights into ordinary life in Hitler’s Germany.
The second book, "Every Man Dies Alone is a novel based on a Gestapo file that was given to Fallada in 1945. The file was about a working class couple who started a postcard campaign against Hitler’s war. The novel was translated into English in 2009 and became an international bestseller.
The loss of a son drives the protagonists to begin a post card campaign. Fallada uses their rebellion as a launching pad for a panorama of life under the Nazis, from the Hitler Youth who bully his parents to a postal worker who flees to the countryside in despair when she learns of atrocities committed by her beloved son.
Both books challenge the reader to wonder how he/she would have acted under such dreadful circumstances.
