The story of a German revolutionary who, after the failed German revolution, becomes an agent for the Communist International, fights fascism in Europe, gets captured by the Gestapo and eventually loses his faith in Stalin.
Since I'm in the middle of reading this book I thought it would be neighbourly to share it with others, very interesting read and quite educational. It does an excellent job of explaining the strange balancing act of the German Communists, and the Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union in the 1920s-30s.
according to German historian Dieter Nelles, it is an autobiographical novel, you have to take it with a great pinch of salt, especially when it comes to collaborating with the Gestapo which was according to Nelles not completely involuntary
I've been verifying the personalities and events, and so far I've been able to track down corroborating information on most of them. There are historical errors, such as his summarising of the Invergordon Mutiny, though these are about events he wasn't involved in, and I've seen that some of those factual inaccuracies were what the Moscow Communist movement was saying at the time so he may have just been passing on what he heard.
The author was a German Communist and in broad strokes his life matches how he presents it in the book, at least 250 pages in, though he probably won less arguments and wasn't as cool as he presents himself.
There is a discussion of the accuracy, or otherwise, of this book in Revolutionary History Vol. 5 No. 1, Autumn 1993. Mike Jones: Jan Valtin – A False Witness
Unfortunately that issue appears not to be online.
Comments
Since I'm in the middle of…
Since I'm in the middle of reading this book I thought it would be neighbourly to share it with others, very interesting read and quite educational. It does an excellent job of explaining the strange balancing act of the German Communists, and the Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union in the 1920s-30s.
Is this a factual…
Is this a factual autobiography, or is it historical fiction?
according to German…
according to German historian Dieter Nelles, it is an autobiographical novel, you have to take it with a great pinch of salt, especially when it comes to collaborating with the Gestapo which was according to Nelles not completely involuntary
Thanks for the clarification
Thanks for the clarification
I've been verifying the…
I've been verifying the personalities and events, and so far I've been able to track down corroborating information on most of them. There are historical errors, such as his summarising of the Invergordon Mutiny, though these are about events he wasn't involved in, and I've seen that some of those factual inaccuracies were what the Moscow Communist movement was saying at the time so he may have just been passing on what he heard.
The author was a German Communist and in broad strokes his life matches how he presents it in the book, at least 250 pages in, though he probably won less arguments and wasn't as cool as he presents himself.
There is a discussion of the…
There is a discussion of the accuracy, or otherwise, of this book in Revolutionary History Vol. 5 No. 1, Autumn 1993. Mike Jones: Jan Valtin – A False Witness
Unfortunately that issue appears not to be online.