Interesting facts about the remark. Erich Maria Remarque: interesting facts about the writer banned in Nazi Germany

Erich Maria Remarque (born Erich Paul Remark). Born June 22, 1898 (Osnabrück) - died September 25, 1970 (Locarno). Prominent German writer of the 20th century, representative of the lost generation. His novel All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the big three “Lost Generation” novels published in 1929, along with A Farewell to Arms! Ernest Hemingway and "Death of a Hero" by Richard Aldington.

Erich Paul Remarque was the second of five children of the bookbinder Peter Franz Remarque (1867-1954) and Anna Maria Remarque, née Stahlknecht (1871-1917).

In his youth, Remarque was interested in the works of Thomas Mann, Marcel Proust and. In 1904 he entered a church school, and in 1915 he entered a Catholic teachers' seminary.

On November 21, 1916, Remarque was drafted into the army, and on June 17, 1917, he was sent to the Western Front. On July 31, 1917, he was wounded in the left leg. right hand, neck. He spent the rest of the war in a military hospital in Germany.

After the death of his mother, Remarque changed his middle name in her honor. In the period from 1919 he first worked as a teacher. At the end of 1920, he changed many professions, including working as a seller of tombstones and a Sunday organist in a chapel at a hospital for the mentally ill. These events subsequently formed the basis of the writer’s novel “The Black Obelisk.”

In 1921, he began working as an editor at the Echo Continental magazine, at the same time, as evidenced by one of his letters, he took the pseudonym Erich Maria Remarque.

In October 1925 he married Ilse Jutta Zambona, a former dancer. Jutta suffered from consumption for many years. She became the prototype for several heroines of Remarque’s works, including Pat from the novel “Three Comrades.” The marriage lasted just over 4 years, after which the couple divorced. However, in 1938, Remarque married Jutta again - to help her get out of Germany and get the opportunity to live in Switzerland, where he himself lived at that time. Later they left for the USA together. The divorce was officially finalized only in 1957. The writer paid Yutta a monetary allowance until the end of his life, and also bequeathed 50 thousand dollars to her.

From November 1927 to February 1928, his novel “Station on the Horizon” was published in the magazine Sport im Bild, where he worked at that time.

In 1929, the novel All Quiet on the Western Front was published, describing the brutality of the war from the point of view of a 20-year-old soldier. This was followed by several more anti-war works: in simple and emotional language they realistically described the war and the post-war period.

Based on the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, a film of the same name was made, released in 1930. The profits from the film and book allowed Remarque to earn a decent fortune, a significant part of which he spent on buying paintings by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Renoir. For this novel he was nominated for Nobel Prize in literature in 1931, but when considering the application, the Nobel Committee rejected this proposal.

Since 1932, Remarque left Germany and settled in Switzerland.

In 1933, the Nazis banned and burned Remarque's works. Nazi students accompanied the book burning with the chant “No to scribblers who betray the heroes of the World War. Long live the education of youth in the spirit of true historicism! I commit to the fire the works of Erich Maria Remarque."

There is a legend that the Nazis declared: Remarque (allegedly) is a descendant of French Jews and his real name Kramer (the word “Remarque” is backwards). This “fact” is still cited in some biographies, despite complete absence any evidence to support it. According to data obtained from the Writer's Museum in Osnabrück, German origin and Remarque's Catholic religion was never in doubt. The propaganda campaign against Remarque was based on his changing the spelling of his last name from Remark to Remarque. This fact has been used to argue that a person who changes German spelling to French cannot be a real German.

In 1937, the writer met famous actress, with whom he began a stormy and painful affair. Many consider Marlene to be the prototype of Joan Madu, the heroine of Remarque’s novel “ Triumphal Arch».

In 1939, Remarque went to the United States, where in 1947 he received American citizenship.

His older sister Elfriede Scholz, who remained in Germany, was arrested in 1943 for anti-war and anti-Hitler statements. At the trial, she was found guilty and on December 16, 1943, she was executed (guillotined).

There is evidence that the judge told her: “Your brother, unfortunately, has escaped from us, but you cannot escape.” Remarque learned about the death of his sister only after the war, and dedicated his novel “Spark of Life,” published in 1952, to her. 25 years later, a street in her hometown of Osnabrück was named after Remarque’s sister.

In 1951, Remarque met Hollywood actress Paulette Goddard (1910-1990), ex-wife Charlie Chaplin, who helped him recover after his breakup with Dietrich, cured him of depression and, in general, as Remarque himself said, “had a positive effect on him.” Thanks to improved mental health, the writer was able to finish the novel “Spark of Life” and continue creative activity till the end of one's days.

In 1957, Remarque finally divorced Jutta, and in 1958 he and Paulette got married. That same year, Remarque returned to Switzerland, where he lived the rest of his life. He remained with Paulette until his death.

In 1958, Remarque played cameo role Professor Pohlman in American film“A Time to Love and a Time to Die” based on his own novel “A Time to Live and a Time to Die.”

In 1964, a delegation from hometown The writer presented him with a medal of honor. Three years later, in 1967, the German ambassador to Switzerland presented him with the Order of the Federal Republic of Germany (the irony is that despite these awards, his German citizenship was never returned to him).

In 1968, on the occasion of the writer’s 70th birthday, the Swiss city of Ascona (in which he lived) made him its honorary citizen.

Remarque died on September 25, 1970 at the age of 72 in the city of Locarno, and was buried in the Swiss Ronco cemetery in the canton of Ticino. Paulette Goddard, who died twenty years later, is buried next to him.

Erich Maria Remarque is classified as a writer of the “lost generation”. This is a group of “angry young people” who went through the horrors of the First World War (and saw the post-war world not at all as it was seen from the trenches) and wrote their first books, which so shocked the Western public. Such writers, along with Remarque, included Richard Aldington, John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway,.

Interesting Facts Erich Maria Remarque:

There is a version that Erich Remarque and Adolf Hitler met several times during the war (both served in the same direction, although in different regiments) and may have known each other. In support of this version, a photograph is often cited showing young Hitler and two other men in military uniform, one of which bears some resemblance to Remarque. However, this version has no other confirmation.

Thus, the writer’s acquaintance with Hitler has not been proven.

As of mid-2009, Remarque's works have been filmed 19 times. Of these, the most is “All Quiet on the Western Front” - three times. Remarque also advised the authors of the script for the military epic “The Longest Day,” which tells about the landing of Allied troops in Normandy. Phrase “One death is a tragedy, thousands of deaths are statistics”, erroneously attributed, is actually taken out of the context of the novel “Black Obelisk,” but the writer, in turn, according to some sources, borrowed it from the publicist of the Weimar Republic, Tucholsky. The full quote looks like this: “It’s strange, I think, how many people were killed during the war - everyone knows that two million died without meaning or benefit - so why now are we so excited about one death, and have almost forgotten about those two million? But apparently it always happens: the death of one person is a tragedy, and the death of two million is just statistics.”.

In Remarque's work "Night in Lisbon", the hero Joseph Schwartz's passport date of birth coincides with the writer's date of birth - June 22, 1898.

Bibliography of Erich Maria Remarque:

Novels by Erich Maria Remarque:

The Shelter of Dreams (translated as “The Attic of Dreams”) (German: Die Traumbude) (1920)
Gam (German: Gam) (1924) (published posthumously in 1998)
Station on the Horizon (German: Station am Horizont) (1927)
All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues) (1929)
Return (German: Der Weg zurück) (1931)
Three Comrades (German: Drei Kameraden) (1936)
Love Thy Neighbor (German: Liebe Deinen Nächsten) (1941)
Arc de Triomphe (German: Arc de Triomphe) (1945)
Spark of Life (German: Der Funke Leben) (1952)
A Time to Live and a Time to Die (German: Zeit zu leben und Zeit zu sterben) (1954)
The Black Obelisk (German: Der schwarze Obelisk) (1956)
Life on Borrow (German: Der Himmel kennt keine Günstlinge) (1959)
Night in Lisbon (German: Die Nacht von Lisbon) (1962)
Shadows in Paradise (German: Schatten im Paradies) (published posthumously in 1971. This is an abridged and revised version of the novel "The Promised Land" by Droemer Knaur.)
The Promised Land (German: Das gelobte Land) (published posthumously in 1998. This is the writer’s last, unfinished novel)

Stories by Erich Maria Remarque:

Collection “Anneta's Love Story” (German: Ein militant Pazifist)
The Enemy (German: Der Feind) (1930-1931)
Silence around Verdun (German: Schweigen um Verdun) (1930)
Karl Broeger in Fleury (German: Karl Broeger in Fleury) (1930)
Josef's Wife (German: Josefs Frau) (1931)
Annette's Love Story (German: Die Geschichte von Annettes Liebe) (1931)
The Strange Fate of Johann Bartok (German: Das seltsame Schicksal des Johann Bartok) (1931)

Other works by Erich Maria Remarque:

The Last Act (German: Der letzte Akt) (1955), play
The Last Stop (German: Die letzte Station) (1956), film script
Be carefull!! (German: Seid wachsam!!) (1956)
Episodes for desk(German: Das unbekannte Werk) (1998)
Tell me that you love me... (German: Sag mir, dass du mich liebst...) (2001)

The future writer was born into a family of bookbinders, so early childhood he had access to any works. When the boy grew up, he began to dream of a career as a teacher, but 1916 made its own adjustments: Remarque became a soldier. In 1917, he was seriously wounded and remained in the hospital until the end of the war. In 1918, the writer learned of his mother’s death and, in memory of her, changed his middle name Paul to Maria.

Ilsa Jutta Zambona is the first wife of the writer Erich Maria Remarque.

After the end of the First World War, Remarque tries to return to ordinary life, working either as a teacher, or as a tombstone salesman, or as a magazine editor. Later it literary heroes will get characters real people, which the writer happened to encounter. Remarque's first wife, Ilsa Jutta Zambona, became the prototype of Pat, the beloved of the protagonist from the novel “Three Comrades.”

The real relationship between Erich Maria and his wife was not easy. After four years of marriage, there was a divorce, then marriage again (the only way Ilse could leave Germany), and then divorce again.

The novel All Quiet on the Western Front brought Remarque worldwide recognition. The author wrote it literally in one go - in just 6 weeks. In Germany alone, in one year (1929), the book sold 1.5 million copies. The novel described all the horrors and cruelty of war through the eyes of a 20-year-old soldier. In 1933, the Nazis who came to power decided that a representative of the German race could not have a decadent mood, they declared Remarque a “traitor to the motherland,” deprived him of German citizenship and staged a demonstrative burning of his book.

Erich Maria Remarque and Marlene Dietrich.

Real persecution began against Erich Maria Remarque. The Nazis declared him to be a descendant of French Jews. It’s as if he deliberately changed the last name “Kramer” and wrote it backwards - “Remarque”. And the author just changed the spelling of his last name to French manner(Remark). The writer left Germany in a hurry and settled in Switzerland. For this, the Nazis took it out on his sister. In 1943, Elvira Scholz was detained for anti-Hitler statements. At the trial, the woman was quipped: “Your brother, unfortunately, escaped from us, but you can’t escape.” Remarque's sister was executed by guillotine.

While in Switzerland, Erich Maria Remarque met Marlene Dietrich. It was a passionate, but at the same time painful romance. The flighty beauty, now moving away, now bringing the writer closer to her. In 1939, they went to Hollywood together.

Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Godard.

In America, Erich Maria Remarque continues to create new works; film studios are filming his five novels. It would seem that what else is needed for happiness... but the writer becomes depressed. He was brought out of this state new love– Paulette Godard. Remarque called it salvation. Oddly enough, the three main women in his life were of the same type: big eyes, chiseled figures, soulful gaze.

Erich Maria Remarque and his women.

In 1967, the German ambassador to Switzerland solemnly presented Remarque with the Order of the Federal Republic of Germany. But the irony is that after the awards were awarded, the writer’s German citizenship was never returned. Erich Maria Remarque died on September 25, 1970 at the age of 72. Marlene Dietrich sent flowers to the writer's funeral, but Paulette Godard did not accept them, remembering how painful Remarque's affair with Marlene Dietrich was.

Erich Maria Remarque was born into the family of a bookbinder; from his youth he was encouraged to write and was offered to join the literary club. Maybe this pushed him to write, although not immediately. He was German writer, they called him Ravik, Bonnie, and Kramer, although his native nickname was Paul. Here are some interesting facts related to his work:

1. Remarque worked as an organist. In his youth, the writer lived in gypsy camp and wandered through life. Afterwards he fell in love with a girl who was the daughter of the editor of one of the newspapers. Although they were never allowed to meet, he still got a job at this newspaper. Later he will write about all these adventures in his novel.
2. His very first works were not liked by the public. Remarque was so offended that he immediately bought the entire circulation of the novels “The Woman with Young Eyes” and “The Attic of Dreams” himself.
   

   

3. The third work, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” is the most successful. The book created a real sensation. He made a deal with a publishing house and if it had not been bought, he would have had to work for a long time for free, but everything worked out. The book sold a million copies.
   

   

4. The writer was an antiquarian. He adored antiques, especially paintings, constantly bought them and carefully looked after them, and he also transported them personally.
   

   

5. Erich was an eccentric man. Once, out of nothing to do, he bought the status of baron on the cheap; later he printed the sign on his business card.
   

   

6. He received harsh government condemnations for his novel.. The Nazis did not support the anti-war views that were in the book “All Quiet on the Western Front” and told everyone that it was not his manuscript, but a Jew’s and he stole it.
   

   

7. Remarque had to leave Germany due to Nazi persecution. The writer moved to live in Switzerland, where he bought himself a whole palace.
   

   

8. At the beginning of the Second World War, a writer leaves for the USA. It was completely unsafe in Europe, they started burning his books, and he and Marlene Dietrich moved.
   

   

9. He saved his first wife. Through a fictitious marriage, he managed to take his wife out of Germany. However, he could not save his sister; he was even sent a bill for the costs of her execution; later he would write a book about it.
   

   

10. He wrote a book about the life of immigrants in America. The book was called “Shadows in Paradise,” and it was a bit biographical in particular.
    

    

11. He loved Marlene Dietrich. However, she doesn’t have him, no matter how many times he proposed to her, it was all to no avail, and he suffered greatly because of this.
    

    

12. The writer married for the second time. After unrequited love with Marlene, Remarque was in despair, but soon he met Pollet Godard. She became a real salvation for him; later the writer himself admitted this. By the way, she was Charlie Chaplin's ex-wife.
    

    

13. Remarque was sentimental. The writer constantly collected various souvenirs, toys, and little angels. He kept all this; later this trait of his character was reflected in his works.
    

    

14. Erich was an alcoholic. He could not do without alcohol and constantly abused it. Perhaps because of alcohol he was constantly good mood, he was called a merry fellow.
    

    

15. Remarque wrote until the end of his days. In his old age he suffered from heart attacks and was sick, but this did not stop him at all, and he constantly created in any condition.
    

    

Future author" Arc de Triomphe" And "Three comrades" born on June 22, 1898 in the German city of Osnabrück in the family of bookbinder Peter Franz and housewife Anna Maria. In 1904 he entered a church school, and a year later he entered a Catholic teachers' seminary. Already in 1916 he was drafted into the army, and the next year Remarque was sent to the Western Front. After being wounded in battle, the writer had to spend the rest of the war in a military hospital in Germany.

Named at birth Erich Paul Remarque, in 1918 the writer changed his middle name in honor of his deceased mother, Maria. In 1919 he got a job as a teacher, and in 1920 he changed several jobs: he had to sell tombstones and even serve as Sunday organist in the chapel of a hospital for the mentally ill. Remarque put the events experienced during these years into the basis of the novel. "Black obelisk".

Remarque's wanderings ended in 1921, when he got a job as editor of the Echo Continental magazine. In 1925, already a successful journalist, he married former dancer Ilse Jutta Zambona, whom he divorced four years later. In 1938, they married again, this time “fictitiously” so that Ilse could move to Remarque in Switzerland. Their divorce was officially formalized in 1957, while the writer continued to pay Yutta a monetary allowance until the end of his days, and after his death he bequeathed her 50 thousand dollars.

In 1927 he published the novel " Station on the horizon", and in 1929 - his most popular work, "On western front no change". The book brought Remarque world fame and good condition. In 1930, a film of the same name was made based on it. Three years later, the Nazis banned and burned Remarque's novels, and he left for Switzerland.

In 1937, the writer began a whirlwind romance with the then-famous actress Marlene Dietrich. It is believed that it was she who became the prototype of Joan Madu from the novel Arc de Triomphe. Two years later, Remarque moved to the United States, but received American citizenship only eight years later. In 1951, the writer met Charlie Chaplin's ex-wife Paulette Goddard. It was she who helped him get out of the depression into which he fell after breaking up with Dietrich. Having come to his senses, Remarque finished the novel “Spark of Life,” dedicated to his sister, executed by the Nazis. In 1958, the writer married Goddard and returned to Switzerland, where he lived the rest of his days.

In 1964, a delegation from Osnabrück presented Remarque with a medal of honor, and three years later the German ambassador to Switzerland awarded him the Order of the Federal Republic of Germany. The writer died in 1970; he was 72 years old.

"Evening Moscow" offers a selection of interesting facts from the biography of one of the most popular German writers.

1. Remarque was so ashamed of his first published story that he subsequently bought the entire edition.

2. The writer wrote the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” in just six weeks. However, before this work was published, it lay on the table for six months.

3. Remarque's favorite drink was Calvados.

5. Remarque collected images of angels. According to the writer, they protected him from harm.

6. The writer's friends called him Boni, and Marlene Dietrich called him Ravik.

7. The writer collected impressionist paintings and carpets. Remarque spent part of the proceeds from the film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front to purchase paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Renoir.

Today we are studying the novels of Erich Maria Remarque at school. And during his lifetime, the writer’s books were ritually burned, and he himself was deprived of German citizenship. But Remarque had affairs with many famous women era of the twentieth century. Learn a lot of interesting things about Remarque from this material.

Erich Maria Remarque. Author of the literary concept “lost generation”

Erich Maria Remarque brought with him to literature the concept of “ lost generation" He belonged to a group of "angry young men" who lived through the horrors of the First World War and wrote their first books that shocked Western audiences. This group of writers also included Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and others.

Erich Maria Remarque. The best war novel ever

He became famous in part for the biographical novel All Quiet on the Western Front, which he wrote in 1929. Erich went to the front at the age of 18, received many injuries and later spoke in a book about all the nightmares of the war, about all the misfortunes and losses that the soldiers saw. Remarque wrote many works, but it was this first novel that became the standard and overshadowed his other works. The novel sold 1.2 million copies in its first year. Many critics consider him best novel about war throughout history. For him, Remarque was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1931, but the proposal was rejected by the Nobel Committee.

Ilse Zambona, to whom Remarque was married twice

Erich Maria Remarque. Banned Pacifist

While the Nazis were in power in Germany, Remarque was accused of pacifism; his novel All Quiet on the Western Front, as well as the film based on it, were banned and burned. And at the premiere of the film, soldiers of the German army staged a pogrom. The film returned to theaters only in the 50s.

Erich Maria Remarque. Executed sister

In 1943 older sister Remarque Elfriede Scholz was arrested for anti-war and anti-Hitler statements. The court found her guilty, and on December 16, 1943, she was executed. Remarque learned about his sister’s death only after the war. He dedicated his novel “Spark of Life” to her.

Erich Maria Remarque. Not only a writer

Erich Maria Remarque was born into a bookbinder's family in Lower Saxony. His father earned little, and Erich had to work a lot. After the war, he worked as a school teacher, a bricklayer, a test driver, a professional racing driver, a journalist, a tombstone delivery man, an organist in a chapel at a mental hospital, and more.

Erich Maria Remarque. Outcast

In 1938, Remarque was deprived of German citizenship. He lived in Switzerland and the United States, where he became a citizen and met his second wife, actress and Charlie Chaplin's ex-wife Paulette Goddard, whom he married in 1958. After World War II, Remarque returned to Switzerland, bought a house there and lived until the end of his life.

Paulette Goddard - Remarque's second wife

Erich Maria Remarque. Unfaithful husband

Remarque was married twice to Ilse Jutta Zambone. This marriage was free. Among Remarque's mistresses was the director of propaganda films about Hitler, Leni Riefenstahl. She was also the prototype of the heroines of some of Remarque’s books. Remarque's longest affair was with Marlene Dietrich. Nevertheless, Remarque paid Ilse an allowance for the rest of his life and bequeathed 50 thousand dollars.

Leni Riefenstahl

Erich Maria Remarque. Death and recognition

Erich Maria Remarque died after several months of treatment for an aneurysm on September 25, 1970 at the age of 72 in the city of Locarno. He was buried in the Swiss cemetery Ronco. Paulette Goddard was buried next to him twenty years later. During his lifetime, critics refused to recognize his skill, despite the wide popularity of his works among readers.