Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for A German Officer in Occupied Paris by Ernst Jünger - Wait list

A German Officer in Occupied Paris

The War Journals, 1941-1945

by Ernst Jünger
Elliot Neaman
ebook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
Place a hold Read a sample Read a sample
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

Ernst Jünger was one of twentieth-century Germany's most important—and most controversial—writers. Decorated for bravery in World War I and the author of the acclaimed western front memoir Storm of Steel, he frankly depicted war's horrors even as he extolled its glories. As a Wehrmacht captain during World War II, Jünger faithfully kept a journal in occupied Paris and continued to write on the eastern front and in Germany until its defeat—writings that are of major historical and literary significance.
Jünger's Paris journals document his Francophile excitement, romantic affairs, and fascination with botany and entomology, alongside mystical and religious ruminations and trenchant observations on the occupation and the politics of collaboration. While working as a mail censor, he led the privileged life of an officer, encountering artists such as Céline, Cocteau, Braque, and Picasso. His notes from the Caucasus depict the chaos after Stalingrad and atrocities on the eastern front. Upon returning to Paris, Jünger observed the French resistance and was close to the German military conspirators who plotted to assassinate Hitler in 1944. After fleeing France, he reunited with his family as Germany's capitulation approached. Both participant and commentator, close to the horrors of history but often distancing himself from them, Jünger turned his life and experiences into a work of art. These wartime journals appear here in English for the first time, giving fresh insights into the quandaries of the twentieth century from the keen pen of a paradoxical observer.

  • Creators

  • Series

    European Perspectives: a Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 22, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780231548380

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780231548380
      • File size: 2548 KB

  • Accessibility

    No publisher statement provided

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      October 1, 2018
      The wartime notes of a German officer and writer.In 1920, J�nger (1895-1998), who had emerged from World War I as a decorated hero, published Storm and Steel, recounting his experiences as exhilarating and the war itself as mythic. As historian Elliot Neaman writes in an informative foreword, the book and subsequent essays "established J�nger's reputation as one of Germany's foremost authors of the war generation." As the Nazis rose to power, J�nger found himself opposed to their racist views and refused to become involved in Nazi politics. Nevertheless, he served as an officer throughout World War II; in 1941, he was posted to occupied Paris. J�nger's war journals convey in sensuous, lyrical--yet often chillingly detached--prose daily life in the French capital as well as dire conditions along the Eastern Front between Germany and Russia and the privations his wife and family endured at home in Germany. In the journals of 1941, the war seems far off, except when J�nger hears bombs burst in the distance or is required to witness executions. "My first inclination was to report in sick," he admits, "but that seemed cheap to me. Furthermore, I thought to myself: maybe it is better that you are present rather than someone else." Through these journals, we see J�nger consorting with resistors and collaborators, intellectuals and artists, drinking champagne, dining in sumptuous restaurants, and accompanying other officers to nightclubs, where naked women perform. Wandering around the city, he combs through antiquarian bookshops, stops in at galleries, discusses literature with friends, and acutely observes plants and flowers change with the seasons. He recounts in detail his dreams, nightmares, and musings on war and the "moral passivity typical of modern man." He characterizes Hitler as a madman and his followers as complicit in a cult of hatred and tyranny. As the Allies prevail, however, he sees that success "is making them ruthless" and vengeful, deepening his condemnation of war.A unique historical testimony.

      COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading