Victor Klemperer (1881‐1960): Reflections on his ‘Third Reich’ Diaries

Abstract

In this article the ‘Third Reich’ diaries of Victor Klemperer, a ‘non‐Aryan’ professor of Romance languages at Dresden, are seen as a major literary achievement. Klemperer’s well‐written and incisive account brings to life the authentic record of the experiences of a victim of Hitler’s tyranny. We learn how the noose is more and more tightened around his throat and that of his ‘Aryan’ wife, whose steadfastness alone enabled him to survive, and how the Klemperers were able to escape the Gestapo only when in February 1945 an Allied air raid destroyed Dresden. The story of their high‐risk flight, too, is described. Klemperer’s attitude to his tribulations, to National Socialism, to Zionism, to the German people and to his fellow‐sufferers, is analysed, as is his academic career and achievement, for which Curriculum Vitae, his autobiography, and other diaries provide the relevant information. Klemperer’s transition from extreme nationalism to cosmopolitanism is examined, as is his firm conviction that Hitler’s racist ideology was absurd and that he was German to the core because of his commitment to German culture. His post‐1945 attempts to eradicate the National Socialist heritage and to resume academic work are depicted.‘Keine Feder und keine Zunge kann das Elend ... beschreiben’