EHRENWORT

Based on a true story, "Ehrenwort" (German for "word of honour") is a pseudoplay (the kind meant to be read, not seen on stage or screen) about the fatal clash between two brothers near the end of World War II. Franz, the older brother, is an angelically good doctor in the Wehrmacht, the German Regular Army; but his younger brother Rolf is a fanatically Nazi evil maniac, Engineer, and Captain in the Waffen-SS. Caught in the middle is positive reality, represented by Maria, the wife of Franz; and two Russian officers, a senior Commander, and his junior adjutant. The characters and the plot are deliberately exaggerated and melodramatic in order to bring many historical, intellectual, and moral dilemmas into sharper focus; for example what genuine nobility is all about, why did Germany follow Hitler, how could the Holocaust take place, who was responsible for what, who was guilty of what, and so on. This is an original literary work written in 1984, published for the first time in 2007.