- Ernst von Salomon
Ernst von Salomon (
September 25 ,1902 -August 9 ,1972 ) was a German writer andFreikorps member.He was born in
Kiel , the son of an army officer. From 1913 he was a cadet inKarlsruhe andBerlin-Lichterfelde ; starting in 1919, he joined theFreikorps ("Free-Corps") in the Baltic, where he fought against theBolsheviks . Later he fought against Polishinsurgent s inUpper Silesia .He received a five year prison sentence in 1922 for his part in the assassination of
Walther Rathenau — he provided a car for the assassins. In 1927, he received another prison sentence for an attempted "feme murder" (paramilitary "self-justice"), and was released after a few months - he had not killed the severely wounded victim, Wagner, when he pleaded for his life, which was noted by the court.After 1933, Salomon said, he did not support
Nazism . He earned his living by writing film scripts. His wife, Ille Gotthelft, was Jewish but was protected due to his support. In his autobiography "The Answers of Ernst von Salomon" he described how both were mistreated by American soldiers when they were arrested, and called "Nazi swine."Salomon was imprisoned by the Americans as
POW from 1945–1946. The 1940 colonial film "Carl Peters", which Salomon wrote the screenplay for, was forbidden by British occupation authorities, because of allegedly being "anti-English".In 1951 he published the book "Der Fragebogen" ("The Questionnaire"), in which he gave his rather ironic answers to the 131 point questionnaire concerning their activities under Nazism. A famous public discussion of the book took place in the main train station of
Cologne , organised by booksellerGerhard Ludwig .Salomon died in
Stoeckte nearWinsen .Bibliography
(Note: this bibliography is incomplete.)
* "Die Geächteten" (translated at "The Outlaws") (1930), a fictionalized account of Ernst von Salomon's adventures as a Freikorpskämpfer.
* "Die Stadt" (The City - translated as "It Cannot Be Stormed") (1932)
* "Die Kadetten" (The Cadets) (1933)
* "Putsch" (Coup d'État)(1933)
* "Der Fragebogen" ("The Questionnaire" or "Answers to the 131 Questions of the Allied Military Government “Fragebogen”") (1951).External links
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,861117,00.html Very critical 1955 Time review of Ernst von Salomon's "Der Fragebogen".]
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