Full Description
This is the first critical, contextualized edition in English of Eine Jugend in Deutschland (1933), the remarkable autobiographical account of Ernst Toller (1893-1939), one of the most important German writers of the first half of the twentieth century. Toller was a celebrated poet and, along with Bertolt Brecht, the most significant and innovative playwright of the Weimar Republic. Completed at the beginning of Toller's exile from Nazi Germany, Eine Jugend in Deutschland gives a remarkable account of his childhood as the son of Jewish merchants in Eastern Prussia under Kaiser Wilhelm II, his studies in France, his eager service at the Western Front during World War I, his conversion to pacifism, his activism in the German Revolution of 1918-19 and leadership in the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, his trial for high treason, and his incarceration as a political prisoner of the Weimar Republic. Toller's work, both acclaimed and controversial, left its mark on his contemporaries and is still inspiring writers today.Featuring a vibrant new translation, thorough annotation, and appendix materials on the literary, political, and biographical contexts of the work, this edition will make Toller's great work of autofiction accessible to contemporary readers.
Contents
Appendix A: Literary Contexts
1. Franz Werfel: Selected Poems
a. 'Lächeln Atmen Schreiten' ('Smile Breathe Stride')
b. 'An den Leser' ('To My Reader')
c. 'Der Krieg' ('War')
2. Richard Dehmel: Selected Poems
a. 'Deutsches Lied' ('German Song')
b. 'Der Dichtergeist' ('The Poetic Spirit')
c. 'An mein Volk' ('To My People')
3. Ernst Toller: Selected Poems
a. From Das Schwalbenbuch (The Swallow Book)
b. From Vormorgen (Before Tomorrow)
i. 'Schlaflose Nacht' ('Sleepless Night')
ii. 'Wälder' ('Forests')
4. Ernst Toller, Review of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Literarische Welt (22 February 1929)
5. The Writer's Mission: Responses by Ernst Toller, Arnold Zweig, Bertolt Brecht, and Joseph Roth, Pariser Tageblatt (1934)
6. Two Reviews of A Youth in Germany
a. From Henry Baerlein, 'I Was a German.' Ernst Toller's Autobiography,' Manchester Guardian (23 February 1934)
b. From Margaret Wallace, 'Ernst Toller's Striking Autobiography,' New York Times (1 April 1934)
7. W. H. Auden, 'In Memory of Ernst Toller' (1939)
Appendix B: Socio-Political Contexts
1. From Rosa Luxemburg, Letters to Luise Kautsky (1975 [1917/18])
2. From Gustav Landauer, An Appeal to Writers (1918)
3. Walter Rathenau, 'A Dark Day [ Ein dunkler Tag],' Vossische Zeitung (7 October 1918)
4. From Max Weber, Science as a Vocation / Politics as a Vocation (1919)
5. 'Eisner Murdered': Proclamation issued by the Bavarian Soldiers' Council, the Ministry for Military Affairs, and the Office of the Munich City Commander (21 February 1919)
6. Declaration of the Munich Soviet Republic (7 April 1919)
Appendix C: Biographical Contexts
1. Hugo Haase, Address to the Munich Summary CourtMartial (15 July 1919)
2. Character References (1919)
a. Thomas Mann
b. Max Weber
3. From Ernst Toller, Justiz-Erlebnisse / Experiences with the Judicial System (1927)
4. Ernst Toller, Speech to the PEN Club, Edinburgh (June 1934)
Appendix D: Images of Toller
1. Home of the Toller family in Szamocin, Poland
2. Memorial plaque in Szamocin, Poland
3. Young Ernst Toller as war volunteer, August 1914
4. Toller in uniform, 1915
5. Max Weber among students (including Ernst Toller) in Lauenstein, 1917
6. Wanted poster (offering a 10,000 Mark reward for Toller's capture), Munich, 15 May 1919
7. Toller in the courtyard of Niederschönenfeld prison
8. Toller in his cell in Niederschönenfeld prison
