Günther Schwab (7 October 1904 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

– 12 April 2006 in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) was an Austrian writer and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and member of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

party."Nature and nationalism: right-wing ecology and the politics of identity in contemporary Germany"
Jonathan Olsen. Palgrave Macmillan, 1999. , . p. 82 He founded the

World Union for Protection of Life The World Union for Protection of Life (German: ''Weltbund zum Schutz des Lebens'', French: ''Union Mondiale pour la Protection de la Vie'', Russian: Всемирный союз для защиты жизни) is an international non-profit organ ...

Early life

After the First World War his family, who were merchants, moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, where Schwab discovered his love for nature. In Vienna, he joined

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

(Nazi Party) as well as Sturmabteilung (SA or Brownshirts) in which he was a lieutenant from 1930. As an editor of ''Lebenschutz'' (Protection of Life), he has been repeatedly accused of racism. Through Prof. Dr. Günther Schlesinger, an Austrian Nature Protection Referent, Günther Schwab got more involved with nature protection. He studied in those years, as expected of the family, at the commercial academy, but due to his love for nature he soon became a forest ranger.

Environment and literature

His first book ''Abenteuer am Fluss'' (Adventures At The River), published by Franz-Eher-Verlag, the Central publishing house of the Nazi party, was proof of his love. as were all his following books ''Der Wind über den Feldern'' (The wind across the fields), ''Kamerad mit dem haarigen Gesicht'' (A story about a dog), ''Land voller Grande'' (Land of grace), ''Das Glück am Rand'' (Fortune at the edge). In 1951, he gave up his profession, moved to Salzburg and dedicated his life to writing. He realised that the new upcoming 1950s affluent society threatened to destroy all that he loved: the countryside with all its inhabitants, the solitude of the wilderness, the wildlife as he knew it up to then. Günther Schwab proved to be almost clairvoyant when, at the age of 50, he held a lecture with the title "The catastrophe has started already", at the Audi Max in Vienna in 1954.

The Dance with the Devil

To explain his fears more plainly and understandably for the man in the street, Günther Schwab wrote his book ''Der Tanz mit dem Teufel'' (The dance with the devil). It reads like a subtle, interesting detective story, which he finished in 1958. The theme was mankind's industrial sins causing environmental damage in condemning many

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

as degenerates. The book prophesied that improperly-managed population sizes from other continents would avalanche Europe. This was an effort to renew

Social Darwinism Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in We ...

and

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

theories. The English translation was published in 1963.

Film

* ''

The Forester of the Silver Wood ''The Forester of the Silver Wood'' (German: ''Der Förster vom Silberwald'') is a 1954 Austrian-West German drama film directed by Alfons Stummer and starring Anita Gutwell, Rudolf Lenz and Karl Ehmann. It is part of the post-war trend of heimatf ...

'' (1954)

Society

Schwab was a member of the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and during his life would serve on the advisory panel of the Society for Biological Anthropology, Eugenics, and Behavior Research.

Awards

Günther Schwab reached 100 years of age in 2004 when he received the Cup of Honour of Salzburg and the

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

. He died on 12 April 2006.

Selected Literature

* Schwab, Günther. ''Dance with the devil. A dramatic encounter''. Geoffrey Bles, London 1963.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwab, Gunther 1904 births 2006 deaths Writers from Prague German-language writers Austrian male writers Austrian Nazis Austrian centenarians Men centenarians Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class