In the Firing Line of an Era

Gertrud Kolmar (1894–1943) is considered one of the most important German-language poets of the 20th century, yet to this day many of her works are largely unknown. During her lifetime, only three volumes of poetry were published from her extensive poetic oeuvre: Gedichte, Preußische Wappen and Die Frau und die Tiere. Gertrud Kolmar decided against fleeing and remained with her father in Berlin. She was forced to work in the arms industry and wrote her poetry at night. In 1943, she was deported in the process of the so-called factory raids and killed in Auschwitz.

In her biography, Friederike Heimann draws the very intimate and moving portrait of a woman who had a painful life as a Jewish poet in Germany and made this experience a constant subject of her poetry and prose.

»Heimann [presents] an easily accessible overview of [Kolmar’s] oeuvre, including the narrative and dramatic works. ... Above all, however, she provides extensive space for toying with ideas, for the perhaps romantic dimension of this work, in virtual, merely possible encounters, in truly artistic scenes.« Benno Schirrmeister, taz. die tageszeitung

»It is not least [the described] events and encounters that make the book particularly worth reading – on top of the detailed interpretations in which Heimann sensitively brings Kolmar’s poetry and prose closer to today’s readership.« Markus Hesselmann, Tagesspiegel

»An astonishing testimony of quiet self-assertion.« Klaus Bellin, neues deutschland