Jacobowsky und der Oberst

Jacobowsky und der Oberst, a play (Komödie einer Tragödie) by F. Werfel, published in 1944. Set in the France of 1940, it follows the flight before the oncoming German troops of the Polish Jew Jacobowsky and the Polish cavalry colonel Stjerbinsky, an anti-Semite. Ill-assorted companions in the same car, they make an absurd diversion to Brittany to visit the colonel's lady friend Marianne. Amidst the tragedies around them, and their own apparently tragic situation, comedy is extracted from incongruity and absurdity. The hopelessness of their position is suddenly relieved by the appearance of a R.N. officer, who rescues them.