It is with profound joy

05Dec11

While we’re on Klemperer, I’d like to add a digression on the birth announcement of my mother, which appeared in January 1943. It read something like “With the most profound joy we would like to announce the birth of our daughter Brünnhilde. May she give birth to many courageous warriors. Munich, The Brown House.” The [...]

Filed under: Books, Germany, History, Linguistics, Mother, Third Reich, Victor Klemperer, World War II, Writers   |  Closed
Tags: 1943, birth announcements, Das Braune Haus, death announcements, family announcements, Lingua Tertii Imperii, LTI, Martin Bormann, my grandfather, my mother, The Brown House, Victor Klemperer

The pursuit of happiness

03Dec11

A few years ago I read all of Victor Klemperer’s Diaries – from 1933 to 1959. I read them in the subway on the way to work, at a time when I felt overwhelmed and miserable. I figured it would be therapeutic to read about the daily life of someone who had it so much [...]

Filed under: Books, Germany, History, Third Reich, Victor Klemperer, World War II, Writers   |  Closed
Tags: bombing of Dresden, Dölzschen, diaries, Eva Klemperer, Hadwig Klemperer, happiness, miserableness, Muschel, persecution of Jews, Q train, stoicism, Third Reich, Victor Klemperer