Hans Hellmut Kirst was a distinguished German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 novelist and the author of 46 books, many of which were translated into English. Kirst is best remembered as the creator of the "Gunner Asch" series which detailed the ongoing struggle of an honest individual to maintain his identity and humanity amidst the criminality and corruption of Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

.

Early years

Hans Hellmut Kirst was born in Osterode

Ostróda

Ostróda is a town in Ostróda County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, with 33,603 inhabitants as of January 1, 2005. It lies in the Masurian Lake District and is a growing tourist site owing to its relaxing natural surroundings.-History:...

, East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

, which is now part of Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

Kirst joined the German Army

Reichswehr

The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....

 in 1933 and served as an officer during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, ending the war as a First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

. Kirst was a member of the Nazi Party, stating later that he had "confused National Socialism with Germany."

Kirst later indicated that after the war he did not immediately believe accounts of Nazi atrocities. "One did not really know one was in a club of murderers," he recalled.

Literary career

Kirst's first novel was published in 1950, translated into English as The Lieutenant Must Be Mad. The book told of a young German officer who sabotaged a Nazi garrison.

Kirst won an international reputation with the series Null-acht, fünfzehn (Zero-Eight, Fifteen), a satire on army life centered on Gunner Asch, a private who manages to buck the system. Initially conceived as a trilogy — 08/15 in der Kaserne (1954), 08/15 im Krieg (1954), 08/15 bis zum Ende (1955) — the three book narrative was expanded to five with the publication of 08/15 Heute in 1963 and 08/15 in der Partei in 1978. The series follows the career of Asch, a common man in an impossible situation, from the years before World War II, to the Eastern Front, and finally into the world of post-war Germany.

The Gunner Asch series was published in English as: The Revolt of Gunner Asch (1955), Forward, Gunner Asch! (1956), The Return of Gunner Asch (1957), What Became of Gunner Asch (1964), and Party Games (1980).

Other major novels by Kirst set during the Third Reich and World War II include Officer Factory, about the investigation into the death of a training officer in an Officer School near the end of World War II, Last Stop, Camp 7, the story of 48 hours in an internment camp for former Nazis, The Wolves, a tale of crafty resistance in a German village, and The Nights of the Long Knives, about a fictitious 6-man squad of SS

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 hit men. All of these novels featured Kirst's unique blend of deadpan humor and devastating satire, with leading characters often shown positioning themselves as outspoken, ardent Nazis during the Third Reich era before effortlessly flipping to become equally ardent in their claims to have been anti-Nazi and 100% pro-democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 or pro-communist

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, whichever was to their advantage, after the tide turned.

Kirst also wrote about the July 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in Aufstand der Soldaten (1965), which was translated into English as Soldiers' Revolt.

Kirst's non-World War II themed novels included The Seventh Day (1957), a nuclear holocaust story that received worldwide acclaim and was dubbed "so convincing, that it doesn't seem like fiction at all," and Die letzte Karte spielt der Tod (1955), a fictional account of the life of Soviet spy Richard Sorge

Richard Sorge

Richard Sorge was a German communist and spy who worked for the Soviet Union. He has gained great fame among espionage enthusiasts for his intelligence gathering during World War II. He worked as a journalist in both Germany and Japan, where he was imprisoned for spying and eventually hanged....

, published in the United States as The Last Card and in the United Kingdom as Death Plays the Last Card.

In 1965, Kirst was nominated for an Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 of the Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....

 for his 1962 book, Die Nacht der Generale, translated into English as The Night of the Generals. The book dealt with an investigation into a series of murders of prostitutes during and after World War II committed by one of three German generals. The book was made into a fairly successful 1967 film

The Night of the Generals

The Night of the Generals is a 1967 suspense thriller film directed by Anatole Litvak. Set during World War II, the story was adapted from the novel of the same name by Hans Hellmut Kirst. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet and Philippe Noiret.The...

 of the same name, which starred Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...

 and Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole

Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...

.

Kirst also wrote a series of detective novels set in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 in the 1960s and published in English translations as Damned to Success (and also as A Time for Scandal), A Time for Truth, and Everything has a Price.

In 1972, Kirst was a member of the jury at the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival

22nd Berlin International Film Festival

The 22nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 4 July 1972.-Jury:* Eleanor Perry * Fritz Drobilitsch-Walden* Francis Cosne* Rita Tushingham* Tinto Brass* Yukichi Shinada* Julio Coll* Hans Hellmut Kirst...

. He was also a member of International PEN

International PEN

PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....

 and The Authors Guild.

Death and legacy

Hans Hellmut Kirst died in 1989. He was 74 years old at the time of his death and was survived by his wife, Ruth, and a daughter.

Kirst's books were translated into 28 languages and sold a total of 12 million copies during his lifetime.

Works in English translation

• The Lieutenant Must Be Mad. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1951/London: George G. Harrap and Co., 1951.
• The Revolt of Gunner Asch. Boston: Little, Brown, 1955. UK title: Zero Eight Fifteen: The Strange Mutiny of Gunner Asch: A Novel. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1955.
• Forward, Gunner Asch! Boston: Little, Brown, 1956. UK title: Gunner Asch Goes to War: Zero Eight Fifteen II: A Novel. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1956.
• The Return of Gunner Asch. Boston: Little, Brown, 1957/London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957. Subtitled Zero Eight Fifteen III in the UK edition.
• The Seventh Day. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959. UK title: No One Will Escape: A Novel. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1959.
• Officer Factory: A Novel. London: Collins, 1962/Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963.
• The Night of the Generals: A Novel. New York: Harper and Row, 1963/London: Collins, 1963.
• What Became of Gunner Asch. New York: Harper and Row, 1964/London: Collins, 1964.
• Brothers in Arms: A Novel. New York: Harper and Row, 1965/London: Collins, 1965.
• Soldiers' Revolt. New York: Harper and Row, 1966. UK title: The 20th of July. London: Collins, 1966.
• The Last Card. New York: Pyramid Books, 1967. UK title: Death Plays the Last Card. London: Fontana/Collins, 1968.
• The Wolves. New York: Coward-McCann, 1968. UK title: The Fox of Maulen. London: Collins, 1968.
• Last Stop, Camp 7. New York: Coward-McCann, 1969. UK title: Camp 7 Last Stop. London: Collins, 1969.
• No Fatherland. New York: Coward-McCann, 1970.
• The Adventures of Private Faust. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1971.
• Who's In Charge Here? London: Collins, 1971.
• Hero in the Tower. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1972/London: Collins, 1972.
• A Time for Scandal. London: Collins, 1973. American title: Damned to Success: A Novel of Modern Munich. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1973.
• A Time for Truth. London: Collins, 1974/New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1974.
• A Time for Payment. London: Collins, 1976.
• The Nights of the Long Knives. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1976/London: Collins, 1976.
• Everything Has Its Price. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1976.
• The Affairs of the Generals. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1979. UK title: Twilight of the Generals. London: Collins, 1979.
• Party Games. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979/London: Collins, 1980.
• Heroes for Sale. London: Collins, 1982.

Footnotes