An autobiographical novel set in a city in Germany between 1925 and 1942; published in 1961.
by Hans Peter Richter
Synopsis
Two German friends, one Jewish, one Christian, growing up together during the Nazi Third Reich are torn apart by the humiliations, restrictions, and finally the death of the Jewish boy.
Events in History at the Time the Novel Was Written
The Novel in Focus
Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place
Born April 28, 1925, in Cologne, Germany, Hans Peter Richter's had a childhood that coincided with the rise to power of the Nazi Party throughout Germany. As he grew up, Richter saw firsthand the mounting brutality and degradations heaped upon Jews as well as German citizens who were sympathetic to the Jews' plight. The Nazis' anti-Jewish campaign, organized by Adolf Hitler, would be responsible for the systematic murder of close to 6 million European Jews before the end of World War II. Richter served in the German Army during the war. Afterward he worked as a psychologist and broadcaster in addition to being a prolific writer of fiction, nonfiction, and radio and television scripts. The original German edition of Friedrich was published in 1961 as Damals war es Friedrich, with the English translation appearing in 1970.
For More Information
Angress, Werber. Between Hope and Fear: Jewish Youth in the Third Reich. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
Blackburn, Gilmer W. Education in the Third Reich: Race and History in Nazi Textbooks. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985.
Browne, Harry. Hitler and the Rise of Nazism. London: Methuen Educational, 1969.
Evory, Ann, ed. Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981.
Leuner, H. D. When Compassion Was a Crime: Germany's Silent Heroes. London: Oswald Wolff, 1966.
Lewis, Rand C. A Nazi Legacy: Right-Wing Extremism in Postwar Germany. New York: Praeger, 1991.
Richter, Hans Peter. Friedrich. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
Samudio, Josephine, ed. Book Review Digest. Vol. 67. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1972.
Schaller, Horst. Studien zur Jugendliteratur und Literarischen Bildung. Translated by Sven Hackman. Ratingen: Henn, 1962.
Tempel, Gudrun. Speaking Frankly about the Germans. London: Seeker & Warburg, 1963.
Literature and Its Times © 1997 Joyce Moss and George Wilson © 2007 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
