Theodor Plievier
Encyclopedia
Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (until 1933: Plivier) (February 12, 1892 in Berlin
– March 12, 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland
) was the German
author of Stalingrad, (1945), Moscow (1952) and Berlin (1954).
Plievier was born in Berlin in 1892. During Plievier's young adult life, he traveled and worked as a sailor in Europe and overseas. Through his travels he was exposed to anarchist-syndicalist
philosophies that would influence his later work.
During World War I, Plievier volunteered in the Imperial Navy
and participated in the 1918 Wilhelmshaven mutiny
.
Under the Weimar Republic
, Plievier became a social critic and author. His early works sought to connect personal experience and documentary with literature. He founded the "Publishing House of the 12" (Verlag der Zwölf) in Berlin during the 1920s. During this period he wrote and published Des Kaisers Kulis (The Kaiser's Coolie
s), a critical account of his experience in the Marine during World War I.
After Hitler took power in 1933 and his books were burned Plievier emigrated to France, and later to Sweden, before settling finally in the USSR. After the outbreak of World War II, Plievier gained access to the front lines where he observed the carnage wrought there and interviewed captive German soldiers. In 1943 he became a member of Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland ((National Committee for a Free Germany). He used this material to write his documentary novel Stalingrad, which was eventually translated into 26 languages. Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
The two acting main characters in Stalingrad are the Panzer-Oberst Vilshofen and Gnotke, NCO of a Punishment Company. Both men come from different backgrounds and experience the war differently. The Colonel is a convinced soldier who obeys orders and cares for his men. He fights with a sense of duty, but loses confidence in the German military leadership as he senses that he and his men are being sacrificed to a lost cause. NCO Gnotke's work is to collect the dead, or their dismembered parts, from the battlefield. He loses his humanity as he works under constant fire and is exposed to unrelenting horror month after month during the war. The reader learns how he warms up his body on freshly fallen soldiers. These chapters resemble true horror-stories.
Stalingrad was subject to harsh Soviet censorship. It deals mainly with the German side. Plievier eventually broke with Moscow, leaving for the west in 1947. His later book "Moscow" presents a more comprehensive picture of life in the Soviet Union.
Stalingrad may be regarded as an anti war book as well as All Quiet on the Western Front
.
Theodor Plievier died 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland, and is today a largely forgotten author, at least in the English-speaking world.
Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (until 1933: Plivier) (February 12, 1892 in Berlin
– March 12, 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland
) was the German
author of Stalingrad, (1945), Moscow (1952) and Berlin (1954).
Plievier was born in Berlin in 1892. During Plievier's young adult life, he traveled and worked as a sailor in Europe and overseas. Through his travels he was exposed to anarchist-syndicalist
philosophies that would influence his later work.
During World War I, Plievier volunteered in the Imperial Navy
and participated in the 1918 Wilhelmshaven mutiny
.
Under the Weimar Republic
, Plievier became a social critic and author. His early works sought to connect personal experience and documentary with literature. He founded the "Publishing House of the 12" (Verlag der Zwölf) in Berlin during the 1920s. During this period he wrote and published Des Kaisers Kulis (The Kaiser's Coolie
s), a critical account of his experience in the Marine during World War I.
After Hitler took power in 1933 and his books were burned Plievier emigrated to France, and later to Sweden, before settling finally in the USSR. After the outbreak of World War II, Plievier gained access to the front lines where he observed the carnage wrought there and interviewed captive German soldiers. In 1943 he became a member of Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland ((National Committee for a Free Germany). He used this material to write his documentary novel Stalingrad, which was eventually translated into 26 languages. Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
The two acting main characters in Stalingrad are the Panzer-Oberst Vilshofen and Gnotke, NCO of a Punishment Company. Both men come from different backgrounds and experience the war differently. The Colonel is a convinced soldier who obeys orders and cares for his men. He fights with a sense of duty, but loses confidence in the German military leadership as he senses that he and his men are being sacrificed to a lost cause. NCO Gnotke's work is to collect the dead, or their dismembered parts, from the battlefield. He loses his humanity as he works under constant fire and is exposed to unrelenting horror month after month during the war. The reader learns how he warms up his body on freshly fallen soldiers. These chapters resemble true horror-stories.
Stalingrad was subject to harsh Soviet censorship. It deals mainly with the German side. Plievier eventually broke with Moscow, leaving for the west in 1947. His later book "Moscow" presents a more comprehensive picture of life in the Soviet Union.
Stalingrad may be regarded as an anti war book as well as All Quiet on the Western Front
.
Theodor Plievier died 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland, and is today a largely forgotten author, at least in the English-speaking world.
Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (until 1933: Plivier) (February 12, 1892 in Berlin
– March 12, 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland
) was the German
author of Stalingrad, (1945), Moscow (1952) and Berlin (1954).
Plievier was born in Berlin in 1892. During Plievier's young adult life, he traveled and worked as a sailor in Europe and overseas. Through his travels he was exposed to anarchist-syndicalist
philosophies that would influence his later work.
During World War I, Plievier volunteered in the Imperial Navy
and participated in the 1918 Wilhelmshaven mutiny
.
Under the Weimar Republic
, Plievier became a social critic and author. His early works sought to connect personal experience and documentary with literature. He founded the "Publishing House of the 12" (Verlag der Zwölf) in Berlin during the 1920s. During this period he wrote and published Des Kaisers Kulis (The Kaiser's Coolie
s), a critical account of his experience in the Marine during World War I.
After Hitler took power in 1933 and his books were burned Plievier emigrated to France, and later to Sweden, before settling finally in the USSR. After the outbreak of World War II, Plievier gained access to the front lines where he observed the carnage wrought there and interviewed captive German soldiers. In 1943 he became a member of Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland ((National Committee for a Free Germany). He used this material to write his documentary novel Stalingrad, which was eventually translated into 26 languages. Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
The two acting main characters in Stalingrad are the Panzer-Oberst Vilshofen and Gnotke, NCO of a Punishment Company. Both men come from different backgrounds and experience the war differently. The Colonel is a convinced soldier who obeys orders and cares for his men. He fights with a sense of duty, but loses confidence in the German military leadership as he senses that he and his men are being sacrificed to a lost cause. NCO Gnotke's work is to collect the dead, or their dismembered parts, from the battlefield. He loses his humanity as he works under constant fire and is exposed to unrelenting horror month after month during the war. The reader learns how he warms up his body on freshly fallen soldiers. These chapters resemble true horror-stories.
Stalingrad was subject to harsh Soviet censorship. It deals mainly with the German side. Plievier eventually broke with Moscow, leaving for the west in 1947. His later book "Moscow" presents a more comprehensive picture of life in the Soviet Union.
Stalingrad may be regarded as an anti war book as well as All Quiet on the Western Front
.
Theodor Plievier died 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland, and is today a largely forgotten author, at least in the English-speaking world.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
– March 12, 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland
Avegno, Switzerland
Avegno was a municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 20 April 2008, Avegno and Gordevio merged to form Avegno Gordevio....
) was the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
author of Stalingrad, (1945), Moscow (1952) and Berlin (1954).
Plievier was born in Berlin in 1892. During Plievier's young adult life, he traveled and worked as a sailor in Europe and overseas. Through his travels he was exposed to anarchist-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
philosophies that would influence his later work.
During World War I, Plievier volunteered in the Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
and participated in the 1918 Wilhelmshaven mutiny
Wilhelmshaven mutiny
The Kiel mutiny was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the First World War and to the establishment of the Weimar Republic.-...
.
Under the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, Plievier became a social critic and author. His early works sought to connect personal experience and documentary with literature. He founded the "Publishing House of the 12" (Verlag der Zwölf) in Berlin during the 1920s. During this period he wrote and published Des Kaisers Kulis (The Kaiser's Coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s), a critical account of his experience in the Marine during World War I.
After Hitler took power in 1933 and his books were burned Plievier emigrated to France, and later to Sweden, before settling finally in the USSR. After the outbreak of World War II, Plievier gained access to the front lines where he observed the carnage wrought there and interviewed captive German soldiers. In 1943 he became a member of Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland ((National Committee for a Free Germany). He used this material to write his documentary novel Stalingrad, which was eventually translated into 26 languages. Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
The two acting main characters in Stalingrad are the Panzer-Oberst Vilshofen and Gnotke, NCO of a Punishment Company. Both men come from different backgrounds and experience the war differently. The Colonel is a convinced soldier who obeys orders and cares for his men. He fights with a sense of duty, but loses confidence in the German military leadership as he senses that he and his men are being sacrificed to a lost cause. NCO Gnotke's work is to collect the dead, or their dismembered parts, from the battlefield. He loses his humanity as he works under constant fire and is exposed to unrelenting horror month after month during the war. The reader learns how he warms up his body on freshly fallen soldiers. These chapters resemble true horror-stories.
Stalingrad was subject to harsh Soviet censorship. It deals mainly with the German side. Plievier eventually broke with Moscow, leaving for the west in 1947. His later book "Moscow" presents a more comprehensive picture of life in the Soviet Union.
Stalingrad may be regarded as an anti war book as well as All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
.
Theodor Plievier died 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland, and is today a largely forgotten author, at least in the English-speaking world.
Works (in English)
- Stalingrad: the death of an army. Translated from the German by H. Langmead Robinson. Berlin 1945, London 1953, 1976. ISBN 0583124674
- Moscow. Translated from the German by Stuart Hood. Munich 1952, London 1956.
- Berlin. Translated from the German by Louis Hagen. Munich 1954, London 1956. London: Panther, 1969. ISBN 0586029060
External links
Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (until 1933: Plivier) (February 12, 1892 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
– March 12, 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland
Avegno, Switzerland
Avegno was a municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 20 April 2008, Avegno and Gordevio merged to form Avegno Gordevio....
) was the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
author of Stalingrad, (1945), Moscow (1952) and Berlin (1954).
Plievier was born in Berlin in 1892. During Plievier's young adult life, he traveled and worked as a sailor in Europe and overseas. Through his travels he was exposed to anarchist-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
philosophies that would influence his later work.
During World War I, Plievier volunteered in the Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
and participated in the 1918 Wilhelmshaven mutiny
Wilhelmshaven mutiny
The Kiel mutiny was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the First World War and to the establishment of the Weimar Republic.-...
.
Under the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, Plievier became a social critic and author. His early works sought to connect personal experience and documentary with literature. He founded the "Publishing House of the 12" (Verlag der Zwölf) in Berlin during the 1920s. During this period he wrote and published Des Kaisers Kulis (The Kaiser's Coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s), a critical account of his experience in the Marine during World War I.
After Hitler took power in 1933 and his books were burned Plievier emigrated to France, and later to Sweden, before settling finally in the USSR. After the outbreak of World War II, Plievier gained access to the front lines where he observed the carnage wrought there and interviewed captive German soldiers. In 1943 he became a member of Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland ((National Committee for a Free Germany). He used this material to write his documentary novel Stalingrad, which was eventually translated into 26 languages. Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
The two acting main characters in Stalingrad are the Panzer-Oberst Vilshofen and Gnotke, NCO of a Punishment Company. Both men come from different backgrounds and experience the war differently. The Colonel is a convinced soldier who obeys orders and cares for his men. He fights with a sense of duty, but loses confidence in the German military leadership as he senses that he and his men are being sacrificed to a lost cause. NCO Gnotke's work is to collect the dead, or their dismembered parts, from the battlefield. He loses his humanity as he works under constant fire and is exposed to unrelenting horror month after month during the war. The reader learns how he warms up his body on freshly fallen soldiers. These chapters resemble true horror-stories.
Stalingrad was subject to harsh Soviet censorship. It deals mainly with the German side. Plievier eventually broke with Moscow, leaving for the west in 1947. His later book "Moscow" presents a more comprehensive picture of life in the Soviet Union.
Stalingrad may be regarded as an anti war book as well as All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
.
Theodor Plievier died 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland, and is today a largely forgotten author, at least in the English-speaking world.
Works (in English)
- Stalingrad: the death of an army. Translated from the German by H. Langmead Robinson. Berlin 1945, London 1953, 1976. ISBN 0583124674
- Moscow. Translated from the German by Stuart Hood. Munich 1952, London 1956.
- Berlin. Translated from the German by Louis Hagen. Munich 1954, London 1956. London: Panther, 1969. ISBN 0586029060
External links
Theodor Otto Richard Plievier (until 1933: Plivier) (February 12, 1892 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
– March 12, 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland
Avegno, Switzerland
Avegno was a municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 20 April 2008, Avegno and Gordevio merged to form Avegno Gordevio....
) was the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
author of Stalingrad, (1945), Moscow (1952) and Berlin (1954).
Plievier was born in Berlin in 1892. During Plievier's young adult life, he traveled and worked as a sailor in Europe and overseas. Through his travels he was exposed to anarchist-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
philosophies that would influence his later work.
During World War I, Plievier volunteered in the Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
and participated in the 1918 Wilhelmshaven mutiny
Wilhelmshaven mutiny
The Kiel mutiny was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the First World War and to the establishment of the Weimar Republic.-...
.
Under the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, Plievier became a social critic and author. His early works sought to connect personal experience and documentary with literature. He founded the "Publishing House of the 12" (Verlag der Zwölf) in Berlin during the 1920s. During this period he wrote and published Des Kaisers Kulis (The Kaiser's Coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s), a critical account of his experience in the Marine during World War I.
After Hitler took power in 1933 and his books were burned Plievier emigrated to France, and later to Sweden, before settling finally in the USSR. After the outbreak of World War II, Plievier gained access to the front lines where he observed the carnage wrought there and interviewed captive German soldiers. In 1943 he became a member of Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland ((National Committee for a Free Germany). He used this material to write his documentary novel Stalingrad, which was eventually translated into 26 languages. Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
The two acting main characters in Stalingrad are the Panzer-Oberst Vilshofen and Gnotke, NCO of a Punishment Company. Both men come from different backgrounds and experience the war differently. The Colonel is a convinced soldier who obeys orders and cares for his men. He fights with a sense of duty, but loses confidence in the German military leadership as he senses that he and his men are being sacrificed to a lost cause. NCO Gnotke's work is to collect the dead, or their dismembered parts, from the battlefield. He loses his humanity as he works under constant fire and is exposed to unrelenting horror month after month during the war. The reader learns how he warms up his body on freshly fallen soldiers. These chapters resemble true horror-stories.
Stalingrad was subject to harsh Soviet censorship. It deals mainly with the German side. Plievier eventually broke with Moscow, leaving for the west in 1947. His later book "Moscow" presents a more comprehensive picture of life in the Soviet Union.
Stalingrad may be regarded as an anti war book as well as All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
.
Theodor Plievier died 1955 in Avegno, Switzerland, and is today a largely forgotten author, at least in the English-speaking world.
Works (in English)
- Stalingrad: the death of an army. Translated from the German by H. Langmead Robinson. Berlin 1945, London 1953, 1976. ISBN 0583124674
- Moscow. Translated from the German by Stuart Hood. Munich 1952, London 1956.
- Berlin. Translated from the German by Louis Hagen. Munich 1954, London 1956. London: Panther, 1969. ISBN 0586029060