Komödie in Moll

Hans Keilson was born 1909 in Bad Freienwalde. His 1933 novel Das Leben geht weiter was the last debut of a Jewish author published by S. Fischer before the end of the Second World War. In 1936, Keilson left Germany and emigrated to the Netherlands, where he lived until his death in 2011. Hans Keilson, in his work as author and psychiatrist, analysed and captured in writing the emotional, political, and cultural effects of the National Socialist period like no other author. His literary commitment to humanity was unwavering. In stark contrast to the loud confusion of the 20th century, his quiet, sometimes funny, characterisations remain deeply human in their existential and historical experience. A grand poet in his prose, an analytic, clear-eyed observer in his poetry. In 2005, his complete works were published by S. Fischer in two volumes; in 2011, his memoir, Da steht mein Haus, followed.