»My notes have gaps. I know these gaps, but I am no longer able to fill them in adequately,« remarked Paul Hoffmann at an advanced age. His son took over this task for him - with loving discretion, extreme exactness of detail, and mastery of language. Paul Hoffmann, born in 1921, was 17 when it was made unmistakably clear to him that, as a Jew, he was unwelcome in his native city of Iserlohn and his native land of Germany, and that he must expect the worst. He grew to adulthood in work camps, which were just stops on the final journey to Auschwitz. He lived there for two years, where the usual life span of a Jewish prisoner without a »function« was three or four months. He was then moved from Auschwitz to Buchenwald, where he was rescued at the end of the war. The father had often told his son about that time. There were even numerous letters, which he was able to smuggle out of the camp and send to the former housekeeper of the family of his ⁄ancée, who was killed in Auschwitz. This courageous Protestant woman is an example of how it is possible to express humanity in small ways.
From this assorted material, Daniel Hoffmann has created a deeply moving story about human experience in the 20th century.
Daniel Hoffmann
born in 1959 in Bielefeld, studied German and philosophy and has taught in Heidelberg and Boston. Since 2002 he has been a professor for modern German literature at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf.
