Hans Marchwitza

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Hans Marchwitza (25 June 1890 – 17 January 1965) was a German writer,

Marchwitza was the son of

Two years later, however, he became unemployed because of his participation in a strike.[6] Until he was drafted into the military in 1915, he worked as a laborer in odd jobs. He served on the Western Front until 1918.^[7]

In 1919 he joined the

In the meantime, he again became unemployed because of his participation in a strike. In this period, he wrote his first literary pieces. Alexander Abusch, an editor for the Ruhr-Echo supported him and published his initial piece. After 1924, he published in the Communist newspapers the Rote Fahne (Red Banner) and the Rote Front.

In 1929, he was invited along with a number of other journalists and writers to visit the Soviet Union. In 1930, he published his first book Sturm auf Essen, reporting on the fighting in the Ruhr Area in 1920. After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933, he fled to Switzerland, but was expelled by 1934. Until 1935 he worked for the Communist Party in the French occupied Saarland and fought as an officer in the Spanish Civil War after 1936.

In 1938, he attempted to cross from

Marchwitza died on 17 January 1965 at age 75 in Potsdam. He was cremated and honoured with burial in the Pergolenweg Ehrengrab section of Berlin's Friedrichsfelde Cemetery.

Works

His autobiographical trilogy "Die Kumiaks" (1934, 1952, 1959) and autobiography "Meine Jugend" (1947) depict vivid scenes of the life of German working families in Silesia and the Ruhr Area.

• Sturm auf Essen (Reportage, 1930) [English translation: Storm Over the Ruhr,
  Martin Lawrence
  , 1932]
• Walzwerk (Roman, 1932)
• Die Kumiaks (Roman, 1934)
• Wetterleuchten: Gedichte. A collection of anti-fascist poems (1942)
• Meine Jugend (1947)^[10]

• WIn Frankreich (1949)
• Unter uns (Erzählungen, 1950)
• Die Heimkehr der Kumiaks (Roman, 1952)
• Die Kumiaks und ihre Kinder (Roman, 1959)
• In Amerika (Roman, 1961)
• Gedichte (1965)

References