RexLegendi reviewed The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers
Novel with a compelling background
3 stars
The story behind Anna Seghers’ The Seventh Cross is almost as compelling as the novel itself. Written in the late 1930s, while Seghers was in exile in France, it was first published in Mexico in 1942. The English translation quickly gained popularity, inspiring the famous 1944 film starring Spencer Tracy. Seghers returned to Berlin in 1947, and The Seventh Cross has since become a German classic that vividly portrays life under Nazi rule in the 1930s.
Seghers tells the story of George Heisler, a convicted communist who escapes from a concentration camp with six others. More than just his attempt to flee the country and the ensuing manhunt by the Gestapo, her novel explores a society in turmoil: how do ordinary citizens cope with the new violent regime, and how do they respond to the unexpected arrival of a political dissident? Seghers portrays a divided and deeply suspicious nation, where …
The story behind Anna Seghers’ The Seventh Cross is almost as compelling as the novel itself. Written in the late 1930s, while Seghers was in exile in France, it was first published in Mexico in 1942. The English translation quickly gained popularity, inspiring the famous 1944 film starring Spencer Tracy. Seghers returned to Berlin in 1947, and The Seventh Cross has since become a German classic that vividly portrays life under Nazi rule in the 1930s.
Seghers tells the story of George Heisler, a convicted communist who escapes from a concentration camp with six others. More than just his attempt to flee the country and the ensuing manhunt by the Gestapo, her novel explores a society in turmoil: how do ordinary citizens cope with the new violent regime, and how do they respond to the unexpected arrival of a political dissident? Seghers portrays a divided and deeply suspicious nation, where support for Hitler polarises families and even a response to ‘Heil Hitler’ requires caution. George’s presence compels bystanders to make decisions that often impact more than one life. Morality and safety rarely align.
In essence, The Seventh Cross is a great novel. It reminded me of The Passenger by Ulrich Boschwitz (which also deals with escaping the Nazis) and Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich (featuring testimonies from witnesses). To my surprise, the narrative was quite eventful. However, the decision to focus on bystanders unfortunately results in a large amount of characters, many of whom are hardly introduced and disappear just as suddenly. I found myself in need to reread sections, as I often lost track of the storyline.
We all felt how profoundly and how terribly outside forces can reach into a human being, to his innermost self. But we also sensed that in that innermost core there was something that was unassailable and inviolable.