Arnold Zweig
A German novelist who transformed the trauma of the First World War trench soldier into a monumental literary indictment of militarism.
1887–1968 (age 81)·German writer·Birthday: November 10·The Lost Generation
Biography
Arnold Zweig's life and work were irrevocably shaped by the cataclysm of the First World War. Initially a patriot, his service as a soldier in the trenches forged a committed pacifist and socialist. His great literary achievement, the cycle of novels beginning with 'The Case of Sergeant Grischa,' used the grinding machinery of military justice to expose the absurd brutality of war and the collapse of the old European order. When the Nazis rose to power, his books were burned and he was forced into exile, finding refuge in Palestine before eventually settling in East Germany after the Second World War. There, he became a significant cultural figure, though his later years were marked by a complex relationship with the state's authoritarianism. Zweig's legacy rests on his powerful, humanist anti-war narratives, which gave voice to the common soldier's suffering with profound empathy.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Arnold was born in 1887, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Arnold Was Born
The biggest hits of 1887
Arnold's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1887Born
President: Grover Cleveland
1892Started school
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Became a teenager
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1903Could drive
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1905Could vote
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Turned 21
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1917Turned 30
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Turned 40
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1937Turned 50
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1947Turned 60
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1957Turned 70
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1967Turned 80
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1968Died at 81
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
Key Achievements
- Wrote 'The Case of Sergeant Grischa' (1927), a major international bestseller and pivotal anti-war novel.
- Authored a six-novel cycle, 'The Great War of the White Men,' examining World War I's social and political impact.
- Served as President of the German Academy of Arts in East Berlin from 1950 to 1953.
- Was a prominent voice in the German peace movement and intellectual exile circles during the Nazi era.
Did You Know?
He was a close friend and correspondent of Sigmund Freud, with their letters published as a book.
While in exile in Haifa, Palestine, he initially wrote in Hebrew before returning to German.
His novel 'The Case of Sergeant Grischa' was adapted into a silent film in 1930.
He won the International Lenin Peace Prize in 1958 from the Soviet Union.
“The real writer is the one who really writes. Talent is an invention like phlogiston, the virtue of the sleeping apple.”
