Harry Thürk (8 March 1927 – 24 November 2005) was a German writer.

Life

In 1934, Thürk moved with his family to Neustadt. After attending trade school, he began to work for the German train system (Reichsbahn). After being drafted in 1944 and participating in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he returned to Neustadt, which was renamed to Prudnik at the end of the war. However, he was forced to flee from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. From 1946 to 1948 he worked with the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth wing of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant for young adults, both male a ...

organization in East Germany. After taking a variety of jobs, he became a journalist for a number of different newspapers and had the opportunity to work as a reporter in Southeast Asia during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and also in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. He claimed to have been affected by

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

with lifelong effects. He was married in 1953. Between 1956 and 1958, he worked with the Chinese magazine ''

China Pictorial The ''China Pictorial'', known in Chinese as ''Renmin Huabao'' () is a Chinese monthly magazine first published in 1950. The title of the magazine was handwritten by Mao Zedong. It was one of four publications allowed during the Cultural Revoluti ...

''. After additional travels in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

between 1964 and 1980 (including

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, Korea, China), he returned to Weimar. There between 1971 and 1983 he was the chairman of the writers union in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. In 1995 he resigned from the German

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

organization.

Work

With his 2004 book ''Treffpunkt Wahrheit'' Thürk had published sixty books altogether, including novels, nonfiction, and children's books, as well as screenplays. His topics and exciting prose made him especially popular in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, and he had altogether nine million copies printed in nine different languages. However, he remained relatively unknown in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Among his best-known works are the anti-war novel ''Die Stunde der toten Augen'' and the novels ''Amok'' and ''Der Gaukler''. Many of his novels take place in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

or in his first home of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

. In his later years, his writings dealt with current political themes in reunified Germany. Thürk was a very controversial author because of his political themes as well as the frequent sex scenes in his novels. In the ''Der Gaukler'', he portrayed

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

as a tool of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. However, Thürk, a member of the

Socialist Unity Party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

also prompted controversy within the Communist sphere, for example with his depictions of battle scenes involving German troops against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in his novel ''Die Stunde der toten Augen'' (1957).

Awards and honors

*1964

National Prize of East Germany The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scientific achievem ...

*1971 Theodor-Körner-Preis (DDR) *1977 National Prize of East Germany

Selected works

Stories

*''Nacht und Morgen'', 1950 *''Treffpunkt Große Freiheit'', 1954 *''Goldener Traum Jugend'', 1996 *''Auch überm Jangtse ist Himmel'', 2001

Novels

*''Die Herren des Salzes'', 1956 *''Die Stunde der toten Augen'', 1957 *''Der Narr und das schwarzhaarige Mädchen'', 1958 *''Das Tal der sieben Monde'', 1960 *''Der Wind stirbt vor dem Dschungel'', 1961 *''Verdorrter Jasmin'', 1961 *''Lotos auf brennenden Teichen'', 1962 *''Die weißen Feuer von Hongkong'', 1964 *''Der Tod und der Regen'', 1967 *''Der Tiger von Shangri-La'', 1970 *''Amok'', 1974, situated into

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

during the 1965-66 massacres. *''Des Drachens grauer Atem'', 1976 *''Der Gaukler'' (2 Bde.), 1978 *''Der schwarze Monsun'', 1986 *''Operation Mekong'', 1988 *''Die Lagune'', 1991 *'' Summer of Dead Dreams'', 1993 *''Piratenspiele'', 1995

Crime novels

*''Der maskierte Buddha'', 1991 *''Die toten Masseusen von Kowloon'', 1992 *''Tod auf Tahiti'', 1993 *''Die tätowierte Unschuld'', 1994 *''Tuan Subutu läßt schießen'', 1995 *''Das letzte Aloha'', 1996 *''Schwarze Blüte – sanfter Tod'', 1997 *''Hongkongs Leichen sind sehr tot'', 1998 *''Der Tod kam aus Shanghai'', 1999 *''Mord mit zarter Hand'', 2000

Children's books

*''Fahrten und Abenteuer von Pitt und Ursula'', 1955/56 *''Su-su von der Himmelsbrücke'', 1960

External links

Harry-Thürk-Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurk, Harry 1927 births 2005 deaths German military personnel of World War II People from Prudnik People from the Province of Upper Silesia German male writers East German writers People from Biała, Opole Voivodeship