Ernst von Salomon (25 September 1902 – 9 August 1972) was a German novelist and screenwriter. He was a Weimar-era national-revolutionary activist and right-wing
Freikorps
(, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...
member.
Family and education
He was born in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
, in the
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
province of Schleswig-Holstein
The Province of Schleswig-Holstein (german: Provinz Schleswig-Holstein ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (subsequently the Free State of Prussia after 1918) from 1868 to 1946.
History
It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and H ...
, the son of a criminal investigation officer. Salomon attended the
Musterschule
The Musterschule ("model school") is a Gymnasium (Germany), gymnasium in Frankfurt, Germany. It was founded on 18 April 1803 by Wilhelm Friedrich Hufnagel as a ''Realschule'' and is Frankfurt's second oldest higher school after the Lessing-Gymna ...
gymnasium in Frankfurt.
Military service
From 1913 Salomon was raised as a cadet in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
and in
Lichterfelde near
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
; during the
German Revolution of 1918–19, he joined the paramilitary ''
Freikorps
(, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...
'' ("Free-Corps") unit under
Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker suppressing the
Spartacist Uprising
The Spartacist uprising (German: ), also known as the January uprising (), was a general strike and the accompanying armed struggles that took place in Berlin from 5 to 12 January 1919. It occurred in connection with the November Revolutio ...
. Later in 1919, he fought in the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
against the
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
and the
Estonian and
Latvian armies. With his unit he took part in the Kapp-Putsch in March 1920. He also fought against Polish insurgents in what the Poles call the
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...
of 1921.
Political activity before and during WW2
After the ''Freikorps'' units had been officially dissolved in 1920, Salomon joined the ''
Organisation Consul
Organisation Consul (O.C.) was an ultra-nationalist and anti-Semitic terrorist organization that operated in the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1922. It was formed by members of the disbanded Freikorps group Marine Brigade Ehrhardt and was respons ...
'' and received a five-year prison sentence in 1922 for his part in the assassination of Foreign Minister
Walther Rathenau
Walther Rathenau (29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and liberal politician.
During the First World War of 1914–1918 he was involved in the organization of the German war economy. After the war, Rathenau s ...
– he provided a car for the assassins. In 1927, he received another prison sentence for an attempted
''Feme'' murder (paramilitary "self-justice"), and was pardoned by Reich President
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...
after a few months – he had not killed the severely wounded victim, Wagner, when he pleaded for his life, which was noted by the court.
After his release from prison, Salomon committed himself to the support of ''Feme'' murder convicts and began to publish
feuilleton
A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...
articles in the national conservative ''
Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
''Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (often abbreviated to DAZ) was a German newspaper that appeared between 1861 and 1945.
Until 1918 the title of the paper was ''Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung''. Although Wilhelm Liebknecht, one of the founders ...
'' newspaper, which earned him the attention of
Conservative Revolutionary and
National Bolshevist circles around
Friedrich Hielscher and
Arnolt Bronnen
Arnolt Bronnen (19 August 1895 – 12 October 1959) was an Austrian playwright and director.
Life and career
Bronnen was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of the Austrian-Jewish writer Ferdinand Bronner and his Christian wife Martha Bronner. B ...
.
In 1929, he backed his elder brother Bruno in his struggle for the Schleswig-Holstein
Rural People's Movement
The Rural People's Movement (german: Landvolkbewegung) was a farmers' protest movement in northern Germany from 1928 to 1933. Due to an agricultural crisis, demonstrations took place in numerous towns and cities in early 1928, and deputations were ...
by simulating a bomb attack on the
Reichstag building in Berlin. He had to spend three months in investigative custody, during which time he finished writing his first novel ''
The Outlaws'' (''Die Geächteten''), published by
Ernst Rowohlt.
Unlike many other German writers and poets, he did not sign the ''
Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft
The Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft (variously translated from German to English as "vow of most faithful allegiance", "proclamation of loyalty of German writers" or "promise of most loyal obedience") was a declaration by 88 German writers and poe ...
'' proclamation of loyalty to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. He had been arrested after the Nazi ''
Machtergreifung'', together with
Hans Fallada
Hans Fallada (; born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen; 21 July 18935 February 1947) was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include '' Little Man, What Now?'' (1932) and ''Every Man Dies Alone'' ...
, but was released after a few days. Suspiciously eyed by the authorities, who suspected him to be an adherent of
Otto Strasser
Otto Johann Maximilian Strasser (also german: link=no, Straßer, see ß; 10 September 1897 – 27 August 1974) was a German politician and an early member of the Nazi Party. Otto Strasser, together with his brother Gregor Strasser, was a lead ...
's "Third Position", he earned his living by writing film scripts for the German film company ''UFA''. Salomon wrote the screenplay for the 1941 anti-British propaganda film ''
Carl Peters
Carl Peters (27 September 1856 – 10 September 1918), was a German colonial ruler, explorer, politician and author and a major promoter of the establishment of the German colony of East Africa (part of the modern republic Tanzania).
Life
H ...
''.
He supported Ernst Rowohlt after he had received a publishing ban for employing Jewish personnel and temporarily corresponded with conservative
resistance circles around
Arvid Harnack and
Harro Schulze-Boysen
Heinz Harro Max Wilhelm Georg Schulze-Boysen (; Schulze, 2 September 1909 – 22 December 1942) was a left-wing German publicist and Luftwaffe officer during World War II. As a young man, Schulze-Boysen grew up in prosperous family with two sibli ...
. His lover, Ille Gotthelft, was Jewish but he was able to protect her from persecution by passing her off as his spouse. In his autobiographical ''The Answers'' he described how both were arrested and seriously mistreated in 1945 by American soldiers when they were arrested, and called "Nazi swine!" and "despicable creatures". Salomon was interned by the American Military Authorities until September 1946.
In 1951 he published the book ''
The Questionnaire'' (''Der Fragebogen''), in which he gave his ironic and sarcastic "Answers" to the 131 point questionnaire concerning people's activities between 1933-1945 which the Western Allied Military Governments in Germany issued by the tens of thousands at the end of the war. A famous public discussion of the book took place in the main train station of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, organised by bookseller
Gerhard Ludwig. Although Liberals and the Left condemned it violently, the book was a sensation in Germany and between its publication in 1951 and 1954 by which time it had sold over 250,000 copies.
Death
Ernst von Salomon died of heart failure at his home near
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
on 9 August 1972. He was 69 years of age.
Selected filmography
* ''
Men Without a Fatherland'' (1937)
* ''
Carl Peters
Carl Peters (27 September 1856 – 10 September 1918), was a German colonial ruler, explorer, politician and author and a major promoter of the establishment of the German colony of East Africa (part of the modern republic Tanzania).
Life
H ...
'' (1941)
* ''
The Endless Road'' (1943)
Bibliography
(Note: this bibliography is incomplete.)
* ''
Die Geächteten'' (translated as ''The Outlaws'') (1930), a fictionalized account of Ernst von Salomon's adventures as a ''Freikorps'' fighter.
* ''Die Stadt'' ("The City" – translated as ''It Cannot Be Stormed'') (1932)
* ''Die Kadetten'' ("The Cadets") (1933)
* ''Putsch'' ("Coup d'État") (1933)
* ''
Der Fragebogen'' (''The Questionnaire'' or ''Answers to the 131 Questions of the Allied Military Government''.) (Germany 1951). English edition, by Putnam, London, 1954.
* ''
Die schöne Wilhelmine'' ("The Beautiful Wilhelmine") (1965)
* ''
Der tote Preuße'' ("The Dead Prussian") (1973)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salomon, Ernst von
1902 births
1972 deaths
Writers from Kiel
People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein
German male screenwriters
German Peace Union politicians
Organisation Consul members
20th-century Freikorps personnel
Conservative Revolutionary movement
German male writers
People educated at the Musterschule
20th-century German screenwriters
20th-century German criminals