Hans Fallada: preface to “Who Once Eats Out of the Tin Bowl”

• 1933
• Rowohlt-Verlag

When the National Socialists seized power on 30th January 1933, Fallada had already written a large part of his manuscript “Cigarette or Lamps,” which appeared in book shops on 12^th March 1934 under the title “Who Once Eats Out of the Tin Bowl.” The novel tells the story of Willi Kufalts, who is released from prison and strives to lead an honest life but fails when dealing with former prisoners. The humanistic character of the novel – the complaint against the conditions in the penal system and subsequent care – did not meet with the understanding of the new rulers.

So the author decided, against the advice of his publisher Ernst Rowohlt, to add a preface to the book, which Thomas Mann noted in his diary on 14^th March 1934: “For a book to be possible in Germany it must renounce its humane attitude in an introduction and stamp it into the ground.”