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| Die Dritte Walpurgisnacht |
The great Viennese poet, playwright and satirist Karl Kraus wrote his own epitaph in a little poem where he said, "All that will remain of me is unattributed quotes." In fact, the quotes are generally attributed but taken out of context. For example, he's famous for having said in 1933 "I can't think of a thing to say about Hitler" and that line has often been cited as proof that in the face of Nazism he flinched and shut up. Not true. That line comes at the start of a 365-page book called Die Dritte Walpurgisnacht (Third Walpurgisnacht) where he documents Nazi atrocities within Germany. He had completed the book by the end of 1933 and originally planned to put it out as a special number of his magazine die Fackel (the Torch) but then held off for fear of reprisals against the victims mentioned therein. It was published only posthumously in 1952. It's important not only as part of Kraus' tremendous oeuvre, but as a model of how to read a newspaper and how to resist stupidity. Kosel Verlag, Munich, published a recent edition in 1967. An English translation is way overdue.
Recommended by Suzanne Ruta.
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