Munich 1919 —— Diary of a Revolution

As a reader and reviewer of the author's multiple "I will bear witness" volumes covering 1933-1945, based on his perceptive diaries of the period under Nazi control, I was pleasantly surprised to see this recent volume published. Here, though, Klemperer is describing events in 1919, in Munich, rather than Germany during the 1930's. At the conclusion of the First War in 1918, Communist inspired revolts occurred throughout Germany. The author was living in Munich at the time, teaching university and writing when a revolt struck the city. One of the many strengths of the book is found in the appendix, where Wolfram Wette's essay, "The German Revolution of 1918-19: A historical essay" is printed. In fact, I suggest readers take a look at this short essay which provides all the historical background necessary to place Klemperer's book in context before tackling the book itself. Also found in the appendix is a very valuable chronology of the entirety of Klemerer's life from 1889 to 1960. The book is composed of two types of material. First, are a number of essays which Klemperer had written and published (some at least) in a German newspaper--contemporary recollection recorded in other words. The second source of material is from a memoir he was writing in 1942. Even at this early stage of his career, Klemperer manifests in this material his acutely perceptive analytical abilities, his skills as a story teller, and his ability to draw the reader right in for a 148 page ride. The book also includes extremely helpful notes which further add context and background to Klemperer's account. When you read Klemperer, it is almost like you are standing next to him on the streets of Munich as he recounts what is happening. One important theory author develops is that it was during this 1919 uprising that the bitter anti-Semitism that Klemperer would suffer later under the Nazis in the 1930's got underway. As he sees it, the conservative Munich residents began to refer to the Communist revolutionaries as "Jewish pigs" as they became increasingly frustrated with the bloody fighting which killed several thousand. Klemperer also refers to this phenomenon as "the Jewish bogeyman". How ironic that Klemperer is experiencing in 1919 the very same conditions he will later endure during the 1930's. The book also contains many helpful photographs which provide additional context for the narrative. There is nobody in my experience who can write with the skill and insights of Klemperer. And here he is in 1919 manifesting those unique skills which will grow into his 1930-1942 diaries and other publications. We are so fortunate that Klemperer "learned by doing" during 1919, so he was in a position to produce his World War II volumes which have rightly become so famous as among the most authentic and perceptive studies we have of Jewish life (and death) under the Nazis.

Victor Klemperer’s masterworks are his diaries, I Will Bear Witness (Vols. 1 & 2). This new book however chronicles his observations and writings about the German Revolution and its impact in Munich where he lived at that tumultuous time. It is written as a combination of his newspaper articles about the Revolution’s events, his later commentaries, and his contemporary diary entries from 1919. The book isn’t nearly as engaging as his masterpiece, yet it does serve as an insightful prequel giving us a glimpse of the anti-semitism and destruction that was later to characterize the rise of Nazi German just 14 years later. As I didn’t know much about this German Revolution, I was somewhat lost in reading this account, especially as it just began suddenly in the midst of revolution without giving the reader context for understanding. At the book’s conclusion, there was an afterward that gave an overview of the Revolution, which I think would have been ideally suited as a preface instead. Better editorship should have recognized that significant flaw. Yet as a fan of Klemperer, I was thrilled to find this account, which further sheds light upon this important phase of his life.

I would love to give this a five star rating simply because of my enormous respect for Klemperer, who would later write perhaps the most gut wrenching diary of WW II, as well as one of the best studies of the Nazis in his THE LANGUAGE OF THE THIRD REICH, in which his skills as a linguist are combined with his first hand experience as a Jew in Nazi Germany (through which he managed to survive thanks to his wife, an Aryan woman to whom he was married whose persistent refusal to give in to demands by the Nazis and Gestapo that she divorce him - which would have stripped him of any rights and would have meant deportation to a concentration camp - saved his life). This earlier diary of an earlier, if somewhat less well known, period in German history simply lacks the fire of his later writings. Who knows why this is. Perhaps his work as a Professor of Romance Languages for the Twenties matured him as a writer; perhaps it was his personal involvement with the horrors of life under the Nazis that gave the later work its sense of urgency. Certainly these diaries lack the great hero of the later diaries, his wife, whose enormous personal courage in opposing the Nazis he contrasted favorably with the so-called courage of Nazis to go along with the martial fervor forced upon the masses. I even find the diaries of his final years after the war, when he and his wife migrated to Israel, more interesting than these early diaries. Still, this is another volume by a man who he one of the great diarists - and perhaps the greatest - of the past century. For that reason this is a volume worth reading. I would, however, urge anyone who has not read his three truly great books - the two volumes covering his wartime diaries and his book on the language of the Nazis - to do so immediately. As a student of World War II, if asked by someone for a list of books to learn about Germany under the Nazis, I would first send them to Richard Evans's magnificent three-volume history of the Nazis (published by Penguin) for a historical overview and then directly to Klemperer's books.

Liked the translations of Klemperer's diaries. Eyewitness accounts. Another aspect of Germany falling apart before the Nazi's and interesting for the involvement of the Russians, a mess in Russia and spreading. Not much to dislike.

Victor Klemperer was a diarist, journalist and major chronicler of Germany history. I have read some of his diaries from the period of the Second World War, but nothing earlier and so it was, with interest, that I read this slim volume which is a portrayal of the chaos in Germany after World War One and the collapse of the Munich Council Republic. On the 7th November, 1918, the Kind of Bavaria was toppled and went into exile, leaving behind him political polarisation and the unfolding of revolution. The accounts included in this book consist of newspaper articles, diary entries and a memoir (later abandoned) concerning events in Munich. As these pieces were written at the time they have a fascinating immediacy, showing Klemperer’s clear impressions of events. This is not a disinterested, historical view of revolution – although the author is always clear and fairly unemotional in his writing, obviously thinking of publication as any writer does. This is a time when, as he says, there were no cars on the streets, the shops closed and students took to the streets. I have always enjoyed Klemperer’s writing and I liked his dry humour. He obviously is unsettled by events, but also finds much ridiculous. Writing of the students at Munich University, he says, almost gleefully, of the students; ‘they formed a revolutionary works committee(!) This is a time of assassination, coups and upheaval and it is a period which resulted in the political climate which led to the rise of the Nazi party. As such, this is an extremely important work and one which gives a fascinating insight to a country (and a city) in turmoil at the end of the war.

I had heard of Victor Klemperer who was a prolific diarist and commentator of what was happening in Germany both pre- and post both world wars. Klemperer paints a picture of life in Germany after the ‘war to end all wars’ which at times is hopeful and at others you get a glimpse of the foreboding at the rise of extremism in post war German politics. This is a mixture of diary entries, newspaper reports and opinion. Klemperer is pretty much unique in Germany at that time as he takes a balanced approach to what is going on around him, although as what is going on around him begins to take a more sinister turn his analysis and comment becomes more somber. A fascinating view of a time in Germany touched upon in documentaries but not discussed in depth outside of academia, but well worth a read. There is a comprehensive notes and description of the main players of the day. If you don’t have much in the way of knowledge of this period and the people, this may be a good place to start and then read the main text.

To the general reader, this will seem a pretty esoteric, rather specialised book – and it is – I would advise that it is really of interest to readers who have prior knowledge of the events in Germany that followed quickly on the ending of the First World War and led to the establishment of the first democratic government of the country. Victor Klemperer was a young academic who, having served in the war, returned to Munich hoping to resume his career; he subsequently became a witness to the political events that took hold of the city and as a relatively neutral observer briefly became a reporter for a Leipzig newspaper. Klemperer would later become an important commentator on the rise of the Third Reich. This book consists of his newspaper reports (not all of which were published at the time) interspersed with reflections from his later historical and biographical writings and an unpublished diary he kept during the period. The accounts are vivid and insightful; Klemperer has a dryly witty view of the political shenanigans, though as assassination and fighting in the streets eventually lead to a military crackdown by the Freikorps - sent by the Republican government to restore order - his reporting takes on a more serious tone. He never really takes sides, offering a balanced (though personal) assessment of people, events and the political attitudes he observes. An interesting study of the history and politics of this short but important period in Germany's history and particularly of Munich, which would be the scene of later political turmoil as the Nazis began their rise to power.

As the title says, this book is, in essence a diary, and it has all of the immediacy, intimacy and annoying characteristics that delving into another's diary can bring. The body of the text is contemporary articles written from Munich for a Leipzig newspaper interspersed with retrospective passages from a much later memoire. The articles give an idea of what it is like to be present at a revolution, the turmoil and change and the sense of heading into the unknown, whereas the later text fills in the gaps in the narrative. One annoyance with the newspaper articles is that they are set in narrow columns - more difficult to read than the text across the page. The text is full of references to people who, unless you are a student of German history, are going to be mostly unknown (Rosa Luxemburg excepted). There are many notes at the back of the book that fill in the details of these people and the background to the text, and there is also a useful introduction at the front and a historical essay at the back of the book that are advisable to read before starting on the text.