Bøger af Walter Kempowski

A wealthy family tries--and fails--to seal themselves off from the chaos of post-World War II life surrounding them in this stunning novel by one of Germany's most important post-war writers.In East Prussia, January 1945, the German forces are in retreat and the Red Army is approaching. The von Globig family's manor house, the Georgenhof, is falling into disrepair. Auntie runs the estate as best she can since Eberhard von Globig, a special officer in the German army, went to war, leaving behind his beautiful but vague wife, Katharina, and her bookish twelve-year-old son, Peter. As the road fills with Germans fleeing the occupied territories, the Georgenhof begins to receive strange visitors--a Nazi violinist, a dissident painter, a Baltic baron, even a Jewish refugee. Yet in the main, life continues as banal, wondrous, and complicit as ever for the family, until their caution, their hedged bets, and their denial are answered by the wholly expected events they haven't allowed themselves to imagine.All for Nothing, published in 2006, was the last novel by Walter Kempowski, one of postwar Germany's most acclaimed and popular writers.

Swansong 1945 chronicles the end of Nazi Germany through more than 1,000 extracts from letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts, written by civilians and soldiers alike. Together, they present a panoramic view of four tumultuous days that fateful spring: Hitler's birthday on April 20, American and Soviet troops meeting at the Elbe on April 25, Hitler's suicide on April 30, and the German surrender on May 8. An extraordinary account of suffering and survival, Swansong 1945 brings to vivid life the end of World War II in Europe.

Ostpreußen im Januar 1945: Hunderttausende Menschen fliehen vor den Russen in Richtung Westen. Doch die schöne Katharina von Globig, Herrin auf Gut Georgenhof, verschließt vor der Realität die Augen. Sie zieht sich in ihr Refugium aus Büchern, Musik und Träumen zurück. Als der Dorfpastor sie bittet, für eine Nacht einen Verfolgten zu verstecken, willigt sie ein. Kurze Zeit später wird der Mann aufgegriffen, Katharina wird verhaftet. Die trügerische Idylle ist dahin. Mit Sack und Pack macht sich der Rest der Familie auf den Weg. Die große Flucht wird zu einem Albtraum.

A compelling and unique insight into the last days of World War II told through first-hand accounts