The First World War not only stirred up several European revolutions, but gave rise to a new generation, new meanings, new discoveries about the nature of man. And Remarque became the first writer to reveal to the world the whole truth about the war. Entrench prose, in the first person, in the present tense, she was shocked by her frankness. And each work of this writer is a masterpiece, because Erich Maria Remarque wrote about the most important events and things of the 20th century.
Writer childhood
On June 22, 1898, a second son, Erich Paul, was born to the Frenchman Peter Frank and the native German Anna Maria. Two years later, a daughter, Erna, was born into the family. But in 1901 a misfortune happened - their first-born Theodore died. In 1903, another daughter was born. The bookbinder’s income was small, the family didn’t have their own housing, and they often had to change apartments, and therefore schools.
Erich went to school when he was six years old. But four years later, the family moved, it became difficult to get to school, and he was transferred to a public school. In 1914, the boy was sent to school at the church, after which in 1915 he entered the teacher’s seminary, where he spent four years.
Student years
His mother taught Erich to play the piano, in the seminary he polished the skill so much that he was able to work as a music teacher. Here Erich Maria Remarque made new friends, many of whom became poets, writers and artists. His first publication in 1916 was an essay on the joy of serving the country in the newspaper “Friend of the Motherland”. World War was in full swing, Erich listened to reports from the front, and five months later he was drafted into the army. Life has changed dramatically.
On the western front
Erich served in the reserve battalion, but in June 1917 he first saw the trenches. A bloody drama erupted before his eyes. Every day someone died, his arms and legs were torn off, fragments ripped open their bellies. Erich learned to smoke and began to drink, because alcohol dulled fear. In the trenches, he forever buried his ideals, dreams of giving his life for the Kaiser. His war lasted 50 days. In July, he was seriously injured and sent to a hospital. The war shocked him. A strange coincidence, but the birth date of Erich Maria Remarque coincides with the start date of the Second World War.
Further service was held in the office of the same hospital, where he was treated. In September, he received news of the death of his mother. On the 13th, he arrived home, and there he found out that his mother had died of cancer and forbade everyone to report their illness to Erich. At the funeral, a friend of Fritz Herstmeier, an artist who did not have time to realize himself, came. He was older than Erich and became his mentor, the first literary teacher. At the station where Fritz will come to see Erich, they will see each other for the last time. Fritz died of a wound in a hospital. The image of this man is present in many works of Remarque. Erich returned home in October 1918, in November he was awarded the Iron Cross.
Return
Erich Returned to the seminary, but became a completely different person: neither mischief, nor skipping classes, he studied diligently. In June 1919, he received a diploma. Almost a year he worked in different schools, but in 1920 he left and never returned to teaching. Partly because after the horrors of front-line life, it was hard for him to look into gullible children's eyes. Perhaps because he was working on his debut novel, The Mansard of Dreams.
In 1920, the novel was published by the same publishing house in which Erich's stories had previously been published. Criticism fell upon him, even the insulting nickname Pachkun surfaced. Erich Maria Remarque was so worried that he was thinking about suicide. Such an unexpected turn in his writing career drove the young author into a state of stupor.
Wizard Tips
Erich interrupted by casual earnings - an accountant, a seller of monuments, books, played the organ in a church, was an advertising agent. He understood that all this was temporary, his only calling was to write. And Remarque, in desperation, writes a letter to S. Zweig, where he begs him to help with advice: where to start, how to gain confidence?
And Zweig answered him so that he would look around and look around, try the work of a journalist, not despair and not give up. Soon Erich was taken to the newspaper, they were not accepted into the state, but they offered cooperation as a literary critic. He wrote a letter to the newly opened magazine in Hanover and offered himself as an author.
Soon, he finally moved to Hanover. Having worked a bit as a compiler of advertising texts, he got the post of editor. Remarque set to work on his second novel, Gam. Sending a letter to Echo Continental offering his services, he first signed up as Erich Maria Remarque.
Soon, after publishing some interesting materials, Erich became known as a journalist. In October 1924, friends introduced him to Edith Derry, her surname seemed familiar to Erich. Soon Edith from Berlin sent him a letter, called to visit and assured that her dad would help with employment. And Erich remembered: Edith was the daughter of Kurt Derry, the owner of the newspaper Sport in Illustrations.
Literary success
After Christmas 1924, Erich went to Berlin, on January 1, he already worked as editor of “Sport im Bild”. The salary was good, but most went to renting a house. Erich was introduced to the young actress Yutta Tsambona, and he lost his head. In October 1925, they became husband and wife.
The novel “Station on the Horizon” in 1927 was published in parts in the journal where Erich worked. Two years later, “On the Western Front is unchanged.” Glory on Remarque literally fell. Jutta and Erich rented a spacious apartment. Stopped needing money. A year later, a film was made based on his novel. And trips, restaurants, visits began. Yutta watched as Erich moved away from her, the family disintegrated, his personal life collapsed. Erich Maria Remarque decided not to do anything, leave everything as it is. In 1930, they divorced officially.
In Germany, the Nazis raised their heads, and Remarque literally persecuted. At the beginning of 1929 he left for Switzerland. When he returned to Berlin, all the newspapers discussed the news: it turns out that Erich Remarque is not a German, but a Jew. In October, he and his friend went to France. Returning from a trip, sat down for a new novel, “Return”. A year later, the book was finished. The first chapter was published in the Fossish Zeitung newspaper on December 7, 1930.
Emigration
In March 1930, Remark was phoned from the American magazine Wheel and asked to write something for them. During the year, he sent them six stories about the war. On December 4, 1930, the premiere of the painting “On the Western Front” was to take place in Berlin. Goebbels appeared in print the day before, promising to resort to violence for showing the film. The premiere took place. But on December 11, the picture was banned from showing by cinema surveillance. In 1931, the film “On the Western Front” received an Oscar.
In April 1931, The Return was published as a separate book. The writer traveled around France, took many notes, which then will form the basis of the novel “Life on loan”. In the summer, he leaves for Switzerland and buys a villa in Ponto Ronco. At the beginning of 1932 he lived in Osnabruck and worked on the novel “Three Comrades”. As detailed in the biography, Erich Maria Remarque traveled a lot. The book was moving hard, and Remarque left for Berlin, where a scandal almost immediately followed. He was accused of concealing income.
The writer went to Switzerland. A year later he returned to Germany, but immediately a new scandal ensued. Remarque could not believe that he would have to emigrate. In January, Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany - no illusions left. Remarque couldn’t even calmly go outside; everywhere he was pursued by the Nazis. He returned to Switzerland. At the end of 1933, the Nazis seized all the books of Remarque from libraries and shops. The writer lived without a break in Switzerland.
Way to America
In 1937, Erich Maria Remarque's book “Return” was published in English. Six months later, the film was made based on the novel. In May, Jutta appeared in Remarque's house, she fled from Germany. In June 1937, Remarque and Jutta received Panamanian citizenship, and in 1938 they signed for the second time. In July, an article was published in all German newspapers stating that he was deprived of German citizenship.
The writer began work on the Arc de Triomphe. In the image of Joan, you can guess Jutta and Ruth, Marlene Dietrich, whom he met in Venice. An interesting fact from the life of Erich Maria Remarque: he looked after Marlene, she answered him coldly, but she accepted gifts. Once he saw how she washes floors. And Remarque could not understand why she did not choose him, because she could live in luxury.
In February 1939, Remarque finished work on the work “Love Your Neighbor,” and he was invited to the Congress of Writers in America. Returning to Switzerland, Remarque was afraid that Hitler would devour it in the same way as Austria. Staying here is dangerous. New York awaited him.
In Westwood, Remarque bought a villa, and in Europe the war raged with might and main. The writer read the newspaper news with pain. How could this happen: Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, France ... In October 1939, Jutta came to America, but she was not allowed into the country. Remarque rushed to her rescue, but the Panamanian passport seemed suspicious to the authorities. They were allowed to live in Mexico. In 1940 they were allowed to return to America.
It's time to live
Remarque drank a lot during these years, but a real surprise was waiting for him at the medical board in August 1942, when he was told that he had cirrhosis of the liver. In January 1941, the writer met Natasha Pale. She will become Remarque's greatest love and greatest misfortune of his life. She will appear before the reader in the novel “Shadows in Paradise”, the last work of the master. Remarque will get rid of this obsession only in 1950.
In 1943, the Nazis executed Remarque's sister Elfrid. The writer until the end of his life could not come to terms with this tragedy. In 1945, the “Wheels” began to publish chapters from the book of Erich Maria Remarque “Arc de Triomphe”. Of course, the book did not surpass the success of the first novel. But this novel is special, alarming, nagging, where the writer writes about what has become painful - about human cruelty and mercy, about selflessness and myopia.
The next work of Remarque was the novel “Time to Live and Time to Die” about a soldier who returned to the ruins of his home. A person who has gone through the crucible of death begins a new life, but dies at the hands of the one whom he saved. A book about rethinking war. The fact that she is immoral destroys everything human, leaving only animal instinct in people.
In 1946, Remarque began to work on the book “The Spark of Life,” which takes place in a concentration camp. One of the heroes is the camp commandant, and the author describes his family, life, and thoughts. The author slowly explores the phenomenon of the transformation of model German citizens into notorious killers. Quite an interesting fact: Erich Maria Remarque first took up the topic, the details of which I heard only from eyewitnesses.
Recent meetings
In 1947, Remarque and Jutta became American citizens, and in 1948 he went to Europe. I went to my home in Switzerland, but I did not dare to call in Germany. I went into the house, and there - father. Remarque's legs gave way from excitement. Together they spent a week. Remarque hired a driver to take his father home.
The writer met Pollet and, in order not to take his beloved woman to the hotel, he bought an apartment in New York. He was 12 years older than Pollet; a brilliant actress, she will prove to be a faithful companion of the writer and will be with him until the end of his days.
In July 1952, Remarque still ventured to come to Germany. In his hometown he is greeted as a national hero. In 1953, he will return here again, this will be the last meeting with his father - in 1954 he will not be. In December 1954, Remarque began a new novel, The Black Obelisk. Like “On the Western Front”, this is an autobiographical book in which the writer describes his biography and work.
Erich Maria Remarque himself wrote the script for the film “Time to Live and Time to Die” in 1957. In early 1958, the writer decided to marry. He was 60 years old, and he was afraid that Pollet would refuse. She agreed. February 25, they became husband and wife. A year later, his novel “Life on loan” was released. Critics started talking about Remarque writing off, but in mid-1961 Remarque's unusual work, “Night in Lisbon,” was released.
This novel was the last one that the writer managed to finish. On June 22, 1968, Remarque celebrated its 70th anniversary. September 25, 1970 the writer's heart stopped beating.