Introduction

First published as a short story in 1938, this epistolary novel quickly became a publishing sensation and was hailed by the New York Times as 'the most effective indictment of Nazism to appear in fiction'.

The novella is related entirely through the correspondence of two men, Martin Schulse and Max Eisenstein. Though German by birth both men have been living in the USA during the interwar period. The novel opens in 1932 when Martin returns to Germany. The initial letters convey warmth and affection between the two men; they have a shared past, shared cultural reference points (Unter den Linden, gebackner Schinken) and it is implied that Max's sister, Griselle, has been Martin's lover.

However, as National Socialism takes hold of Germany, Martin's attitude undergoes an abrupt volte-face and he begins to echo the anti-semitic sentiments of the Third Reich: 'The Jewish race is a sore spot to any nation that harbors it'. Their deteriorating relationship culminates in fear, betrayal and death, thus exposing the insidious evil of Nazi ideology at a time when most Americans were ignorant of the growing menace in Europe.