{"id":277,"date":"2014-12-19T10:35:53","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T10:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robriemen.wbbclient.com\/?p=277"},"modified":"2015-03-05T09:21:37","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T09:21:37","slug":"hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/","title":{"rendered":"Hans Fallada"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his gripping novel Alone in Berlin<\/em>, Hans Fallada tells the true story of two simple-hearted people from the German working classes, who decide to resist Hitler\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n

Otto and Anna Quangeln are true supporters of the F\u00fchrer, until their only child is killed at the frontline in 1940. The condolence letter proclaims that their son died a \u2018hero\u2019s death for his F\u00fchrer and his people\u2019 \u2013 but Otto and Anna know this is a lie. The boy did not want to fight, he was against war. The parents are convinced that Hitler murdered their only child and decide to join the resistance. They don\u2019t just want to resist the F\u00fchrer, but also a society in which you can no longer think for yourself and always have to do what you are told. They decide to distribute cards all over Berlin. The first card shows: \u2018Mother, the F\u00fchrer has murdered my son.\u2019 They aim to set their fellow citizens thinking. They hope that their peers will overcome their fears and become aware that Hitler\u2019s regime is murderous, even that those who do not resist are accessories to the criminal regime.<\/p>\n

But, it turns out that people are afraid and hand in the cards to the Gestapo. Eventually, the parents are arrested and know they won\u2019t survive the trial. In prison, Otto is put in a cell with Dr. Reinhardt, a conductor who was courageous enough to warn people against the regime. Otto, an ordinary craftsman, regards the conductor with much scepticism and says: \u2018Being a composer, what\u2019s the point? I\u2019m a cabinet maker, my work lasts for a hundred years. But music, well, when it stops there\u2019s nothing left of your work.\u2019 The composer replies: \u2018And yet there is, my good fellow. The happiness inside that people experience when they hear good music remains.\u2019<\/p>\n

At a certain point a petty thief joins them in the cell and the dirty little rat steals their bread. When the composer responds to this with leniency, Otto gets angry: \u2018You are too weak. We have to put this scumbag back in his place.\u2019 But the composer replies: \u2018Should we become just like the others then? They think that they can change our minds by hitting us. But we don\u2019t believe in the supremacy of violence. We believe in goodness, in love, in justice.\u2019<\/p>\n

When Otto begins to doubt the purpose of resistance, thinking that it was meaningless, believing that he had not achieved anything, that he and his wife would die in a horrendous way for a hopeless cause, the composer replies harshly: \u2018But how can you say that! Would you rather live for an unjust cause then die for a just one? There is no choice. Because we are who we are, this is the path we have to take.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is remarkable! Based on experiences in the war, psychological experiments \u2013 and, let\u2019s be honest: our own experiences \u2013 we conclude that, because we are who we are, we don\u2019t have a choice and therefore: fit in, conform, obey, go along and don\u2019t resist.
\nBut the composer who joined the resistance used the exact same arguments to come to the opposite conclusion: because we are who we are, we don\u2019t have a choice, we have to resist. \u2018So that we remain decent, just, loving people!\u2019 as he maintained to Otto.<\/p>\n

Ottochen\u2019s parents had to pay with their lives for resisting Hitler and this captivating story appears to end with murder. But then Hans Fallada adds the words: \u201cBut we don\u2019t want to end this book with their deaths. It is dedicated to life, unconquered life, life that still always triumphs over evil and tears, over misery and death.\u2019<\/p>\n

In his gripping novel Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada tells the true story of two simple-hearted people from the German working classes, who decide to resist Hitler\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n

Otto and Anna Quangeln are true supporters of the F\u00fchrer, until their only child is killed at the frontline in 1940. The condolence letter proclaims that their son died a \u2018hero\u2019s death for his F\u00fchrer and his people\u2019 \u2013 but Otto and Anna know this is a lie. The boy did not want to fight, he was against war. The parents are convinced that Hitler murdered their only child and decide to join the resistance. They don\u2019t just want to resist the F\u00fchrer, but also a society in which you can no longer think for yourself and always have to do what you are told. They decide to distribute cards all over Berlin. The first card shows: \u2018Mother, the F\u00fchrer has murdered my son.\u2019 They aim to set their fellow citizens thinking. They hope that their peers will overcome their fears and become aware that Hitler\u2019s regime is murderous, even that those who do not resist are accessories to the criminal regime.<\/p>\n

But, it turns out that people are afraid and hand in the cards to the Gestapo. Eventually, the parents are arrested and know they won\u2019t survive the trial. In prison, Otto is put in a cell with Dr. Reinhardt, a conductor who was courageous enough to warn people against the regime. Otto, an ordinary craftsman, regards the conductor with much scepticism and says: \u2018Being a composer, what\u2019s the point? I\u2019m a cabinet maker, my work lasts for a hundred years. But music, well, when it stops there\u2019s nothing left of your work.\u2019 The composer replies: \u2018And yet there is, my good fellow. The happiness inside that people experience when they hear good music remains.\u2019<\/p>\n

At a certain point a petty thief joins them in the cell and the dirty little rat steals their bread. When the composer responds to this with leniency, Otto gets angry: \u2018You are too weak. We have to put this scumbag back in his place.\u2019 But the composer replies: \u2018Should we become just like the others then? They think that they can change our minds by hitting us. But we don\u2019t believe in the supremacy of violence. We believe in goodness, in love, in justice.\u2019<\/p>\n

When Otto begins to doubt the purpose of resistance, thinking that it was meaningless, believing that he had not achieved anything, that he and his wife would die in a horrendous way for a hopeless cause, the composer replies harshly: \u2018But how can you say that! Would you rather live for an unjust cause then die for a just one? There is no choice. Because we are who we are, this is the path we have to take.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is remarkable! Based on experiences in the war, psychological experiments \u2013 and, let\u2019s be honest: our own experiences \u2013 we conclude that, because we are who we are, we don\u2019t have a choice and therefore: fit in, conform, obey, go along and don\u2019t resist.
\nBut the composer who joined the resistance used the exact same arguments to come to the opposite conclusion: because we are who we are, we don\u2019t have a choice, we have to resist. \u2018So that we remain decent, just, loving people!\u2019 as he maintained to Otto.<\/p>\n

Ottochen\u2019s parents had to pay with their lives for resisting Hitler and this captivating story appears to end with murder. But then Hans Fallada adds the words: \u201cBut we don\u2019t want to end this book with their deaths. It is dedicated to life, unconquered life, life that still always triumphs over evil and tears, over misery and death.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his gripping novel Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada tells the true story of two simple-hearted people from the German working classes, who decide to resist Hitler\u2019s regime. Otto and Anna Quangeln are true supporters of the F\u00fchrer, until their only child is killed at the frontline in 1940. The condolence letter proclaims that their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"\nHans Fallada - Rob Riemen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hans Fallada - Rob Riemen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his gripping novel Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada tells the true story of two simple-hearted people from the German working classes, who decide to resist Hitler\u2019s regime. Otto and Anna Quangeln are true supporters of the F\u00fchrer, until their only child is killed at the frontline in 1940. The condolence letter proclaims that their […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rob Riemen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-19T10:35:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-05T09:21:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/app\/uploads\/2015\/01\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"726\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nexus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nexus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nexus\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/99d5b987e19821854d65693af12c5207\"},\"headline\":\"Hans Fallada\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-19T10:35:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-05T09:21:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1264,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Literature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hans Fallada - Rob Riemen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-19T10:35:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-05T09:21:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/99d5b987e19821854d65693af12c5207\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":726},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hans Fallada\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rob Riemen\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/99d5b987e19821854d65693af12c5207\",\"name\":\"Nexus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/49b0062aad0319dbfdb931266c2bb3b09610f08d8af7c0d49679150489ed1dcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/49b0062aad0319dbfdb931266c2bb3b09610f08d8af7c0d49679150489ed1dcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/49b0062aad0319dbfdb931266c2bb3b09610f08d8af7c0d49679150489ed1dcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nexus\"},\"description\":\"Nexus redactie\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.robriemen.nl\\\/en\\\/author\\\/ilja\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hans Fallada - Rob Riemen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hans Fallada - Rob Riemen","og_description":"In his gripping novel Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada tells the true story of two simple-hearted people from the German working classes, who decide to resist Hitler\u2019s regime. Otto and Anna Quangeln are true supporters of the F\u00fchrer, until their only child is killed at the frontline in 1940. The condolence letter proclaims that their […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/","og_site_name":"Rob Riemen","article_published_time":"2014-12-19T10:35:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-05T09:21:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":726,"url":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/app\/uploads\/2015\/01\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nexus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nexus","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/"},"author":{"name":"Nexus","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/99d5b987e19821854d65693af12c5207"},"headline":"Hans Fallada","datePublished":"2014-12-19T10:35:53+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-05T09:21:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/"},"wordCount":1264,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/app\/uploads\/2015\/01\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg","articleSection":["Literature"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/","url":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/","name":"Hans Fallada - Rob Riemen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/app\/uploads\/2015\/01\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-19T10:35:53+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-05T09:21:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/99d5b987e19821854d65693af12c5207"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/app\/uploads\/2015\/01\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/app\/uploads\/2015\/01\/500-726-Fallada-Hans.jpg","width":500,"height":726},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/hans-fallada-alone-in-berlin-1947\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hans Fallada"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/","name":"Rob Riemen","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/99d5b987e19821854d65693af12c5207","name":"Nexus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/49b0062aad0319dbfdb931266c2bb3b09610f08d8af7c0d49679150489ed1dcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/49b0062aad0319dbfdb931266c2bb3b09610f08d8af7c0d49679150489ed1dcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/49b0062aad0319dbfdb931266c2bb3b09610f08d8af7c0d49679150489ed1dcd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nexus"},"description":"Nexus redactie","url":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/author\/ilja\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions\/809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robriemen.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}