Sansibar oder Der letzte Grund

Sansibar oder Der letzte Grund, a short novel by A. Andersch, published in 1957. It is the story of the salvation in wartime of a piece of religious sculpture, Der lesende Klosterschüler by Barlach (though his name is not mentioned), condemned by the National Socialists as ‘degenerate art’. Behind the plot is the theme of the moral responsibility of individuals. Pastor Helander, Knudsen, a fisherman and disillusioned communist, Gregor, a likewise disillusioned communist organizer, Judith, a young Jewess on the run, and a boy (Der Junge) all participate, and the statue, together with Judith, is safely landed in Sweden. Pastor Helander, when faced with arrest, shoots one of the SS men in order to provoke them into killing him on the spot, thus guarding the secret, sparing his conscience the burden of suicide, and turning his death into a life-affirming sacrifice. The novel's title refers to the boy's juvenile longing to escape and seek adventure in far-away Zanzibar; he emerges with a mature understanding of his involvement in the plot, making the right choice between ‘Zanzibar’ and ‘the ultimate reason’ justifying the freedom of the individual. The one would betray the trust of the group in him, but in choosing the other he accepts his moral responsibility towards Knudsen and their secret mission. The narrative proceeds in short sections, each in turn seeing events from the standpoint of one of the participants. In the end, Helander, representing the Bekennende Kirche, faces the most demanding existential test.