The real horror novel of German culture

The most enlightened members of the cultural world, and even those who weren't so enlightened, quickly sensed that nothing good would come of the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party. But what they couldn't imagine was how quickly the Nazis would turn freedom of expression, the legal framework, even the federal structure of Germany into a dead letter. They didn't even need absolute power; their entry into a coalition government under a constitutional president was sufficient. Through decrees and direct intimidation, it didn't take them long to achieve the first major block of their objectives.

Cultural journalist Uwe Wittstock recounts this beautifully in his book, February 1933: The Winter of Literature, translated by Berta Vias Mahou for Ladera Norte. Wittstock, who has worked for media outlets such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine, Die Welt , and the Neue Rundschau , points out in his prologue that of the various groups affected by the Nazi hurricane, writers and artists are the ones that have left the most documented testimonies, and therefore allow us to better reconstruct that decisive initial period.

“Between Hitler's rise to power and the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, which suspended all fundamental rights, four weeks and two days passed,” he writes.

⁄ Between the rise of Hitler and the suspension of fundamental rights only four weeks elapsed

His story begins with a joyful and confident evening: the Berlin Press Ball on January 28, 1933, attended by all who matter in the capital of the Republic: politicians, editors, actors, journalists... From best-seller Erich Maria Remarque to aviator Ernst Udet, film director Josef von Sternberg, and painter and writer Kadidja Wedekind. Many of them will meet there for the last time in a long time.

The next day, Hitler and his henchmen headed to President Hindenburg's residence, where he emerged as chancellor, leading a minority government but with the acquiescence to upcoming new elections that he knew would give him a majority. Goebbels, Göring, Hess, and Rohm were at his side, and he already had SA and SS units on the streets ready for action.

Thomas Mann takes advantage of a Swiss invitation and never returns; Georg Grosz embarks for America and escapes from the SA.

Very restless, novelist Joseph Roth leaves for Paris. The anti-Semitic machine has been set in motion. The celebrated playwright Elke Lasker-Schüler sees her premieres suspended. The octogenarian Max Liebermann, one of the most prestigious painters, is sickened by the numerous parades of uniformed men. The Prussian Academy of Arts, which he presided over, is going to come under great pressure to "cleanse" it of Jewish and leftist elements, which figures like Alfred Döblin are trying to counter. There are book burnings in the streets. Acts of violence are reported every day; targeted killings have begun.

Thomas Mann and his family are at the center of this story. The 1929 Nobel Prize winner took advantage of a Swiss invitation and never returned. His brother Heinrich sought refuge in the south of France. His son Klaus lived a turbulent life with intensity.

The artist Georg Grosz wisely embarked for America: the SA soon arrived to pick him up. So did director Detlef Sierk, who embarked on a new career in Hollywood under the name Douglas Sirk. The communist Bertolt Brecht followed in his footsteps after receiving numerous threats. The combative Czech journalist Egon Erwin Kisch was expelled from Germany.

The Nazis place their pawns in the top positions of the cultural administration. An informant tells Count Kessler that the Nazis are planning a bloodbath after the March 5 elections, which they expect to win.

“The mass murders began later. But by February 1933, it was clear who Nazism would affect: who had to fear for their lives and flee, and who stepped forward to make a career under the protection of criminals,” writes Wittstock. Democracies that seemed consolidated can be dismantled rapidly, this absorbing and distressing book teaches us: a lesson to bear in mind in our current times.