Wolfgang Borchert
Wolfgang Borchert was a German writer and playwright known for his poignant and powerful works that reflect the traumas of World War II. Born in Hamburg as the only child of a teacher and an accomplished author, Borchert experienced a loving childhood but faced significant challenges during the rise of the Nazi regime. After leaving school at seventeen, he pursued acting but was soon embroiled in the war, where he served in the German army and suffered severe injuries and imprisonment under harsh conditions.
Despite these adversities, Borchert emerged as a significant literary voice after the war, crafting pieces that captured the despair of returning soldiers who found themselves alienated in a changed world. His notable work, "Draußen vor der Tür" (Out in the Cold), became an instant success, resonating deeply with audiences as a radio play shortly after its completion. Borchert's writing is characterized by its raw emotional intensity and a clear anti-war sentiment, exemplified in his final manifesto that implores readers to reject conflict. Tragically, he passed away just before the premiere of his play, leaving a legacy that reflects the struggles and resilience of his generation. He is buried in Hamburg's Ohlsdorf cemetery, where his contributions to literature continue to be remembered and studied.
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Subject Terms
Wolfgang Borchert
Author
- Born: May 20, 1921
- Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany
- Died: November 20, 1947
- Place of death: Basel, Switzerland
Biography
Wolfgang Borchert was the only child of Fritz Borchert, a teacher, and his wife, Hertha Salchow Borchert, a popular author. Wolfgang had a happy childhood and developed a deep love for Hamburg, Germany. Early photographs show him embracing his mother, holding a bouquet of wildflowers, and hiking with his father in the Harz.
He left school at age seventeen and worked in a bookstore while training to become an actor. The Nazi Gestapo interrogated him in 1940 because of his poetry. In 1941, three months after joining a traveling theater company, Borchert was drafted as an armored infantry rifleman. In November, he was sent to the war front.
In early 1942, he had jaundice and was injured, losing his left middle finger. In May, he was arrested while in a hospital on suspicion that the wound had been self inflicted. He had jaundice and diphtheria but was kept in solitary confinement in Nuremberg without medical attention until August, when the counsel for the prosecution sought the death sentence. Borchert’s lawyer had him freed. He was arrested again for “subversive” letters and condemned to prison under worse conditions. Then he was sent directly to the front without a weapon, as a messenger. He suffered frostbite to both feet, still had jaundice, and contracted typhus.
The isolation hospital in Smolensk sent him back to Germany in 1943. One day before he was to entertain the troops as an actor, he was denounced for parodying Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Borchert was not released from Berlin’s bedbug-ridden Moabit prison until September, 1944. He was assigned to watch over prisoners, then mobilized again in early 1945 and captured by the French. Borchert escaped and walked 375 miles home. His parents were still alive.
Borchert founded a theater group, but by early January, 1946, he had to be hospitalized. He began to write, starting with his famous prose piece, “Die Hundeblume” (the dandelion). Physicians predicted he had at most one more year to live. Borchert wrote twenty-four powerful prose pieces by December and published a collection of poetry.
In January, 1947, Borchert wrote his only play, Drau�en vor der Tür (out in the cold), in eight days, then gave a dramatic reading of it to his family and friends. He had captured the voice of his generation: the desperation of physically and emotionally exhausted soldiers returning home to find that they had no home, the lack of understanding they encountered, and the fluctuations of their psyches between suicidal thoughts and the will to survive. It was an instant success when broadcast as a radio play on February 13, 1947.
He wrote twenty-two more prose pieces by September. His manuscripts show that he made few revisions. Last photographs show him smiling with his mother and their cat. Publishers arranged for Borchert to be transferred to a sanatorium in Switzerland in September. On arrival, he was transferred to a hospital. There, in the aftermath of Hiroshima, he wrote his last work, a manifesto against war that repeats the advice: “Sag Nein!” (”say no!”). He died the day before the premiere of his play in Hamburg. The autopsy revealed that his starvation in Nazi prisons caused total liver failure. Borchert is buried in Hamburg’s Ohlsdorf cemetery.