Theo Harych (19 December 1903 – 22 February 1958) was a German writer.

Life

Born in Doruchow,

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, w ...

, Theo Harych was the son of a farmer. From 1910 to 1918, he worked as a

herder A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazing. ...

and

servant A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. He stopped attending a Volksschule after 1916. He went to Central Germany in 1919 where he worked in a sugar factory and in a coal mine in

Mücheln is a town in the Saalekreis district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Mücheln (Geiseltal) is situated approximately 15 km west of Merseburg and borders Lake Geiseltal to the southwest, west, and northwest. Divisions The town Mücheln co ...

. As a member of the Miner's Labor Union, he participated in the Mitteldeutschen Aufstand (Central German Rebellion) in the Gieseltal (Giesel Valley). He attended a driving and servant school in

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

(

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...

), subsequently he was a journeyman in Saxony on the way. He was once employed as a valet to an Adel but lasted just five minutes, on account of his Communist sentiments. He followed with renewed travel and spent time as a driver in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. After a period of unemployment from 1930 to 1936, Harych worked as a locksmith from 1936 to 1944. He drove deliveries with one of his own panel vans. He was drafted to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

in 1944 but fared poorly because of ear problems. He was assigned to "Ear Company" and soon released. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked again as a valet, in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. His writing talent was discovered in 1950 and enabled him an existence as a freelance writer. Harych was a member of the Deutscher Schriftstellerverband and received the 1954

Heinrich Mann Prize The Heinrich Mann Prize () is an essay prize that has been awarded since 1953, first by the East German Academy of Arts, then by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. The prize, which comes with a €10,000 purse, is given annually on 27 March, Heinrich Ma ...

. He committed suicide in Berlin in 1958. In addition to a children's book, Theo Harych published three novels. ''Hinter den schwartzen Wäldern'' (Behind the Black Forests) describes Harych's poor childhood. Themes of ''In Geiseltal'' are misery and rebellion in the Central German coal mines until the insurrection of 1921. The third novel, ''Im Namen des Volkes'' (In the Name of the People), is a documentary of miscarriage of justice befalling Polish farm worker Jakubowski in the 1920s.

Works

*''Hinter den schwarzen Wäldern'' (Behind the Black Forests), Berlin 1951 *''Bärbels und Lothars schönster Tag'' (Bärbel and Lothar's Beautiful Day), Berlin 1952 *''Im Geiseltal'' (In Geisel Valley), Berlin 1952 *''Im Namen des Volkes?'' (In the Name of the People), Berlin 1958

Literature

Serke, J.: ''Zu Hause im Exil'' (To the House in Exile). München, Zürich 1998

External links

Wer was wer in der DDR? Harych Theo
(Who was who in East Germany? Theo Harych) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harych, Theo 1903 births 1958 deaths People from Ostrzeszów County People from the Province of Posen People from East Berlin Heinrich Mann Prize winners German male writers 1958 suicides Suicides in East Germany