Reunion (Paperback)

by Fred Uhlman (Author), Arthur Koestler (Introduction) "HE came into my life in February 1932 and never left it again..." (more)
Key Phrases: Herr Zimmermann, Karl Alexander Gymnasium, Muscle Max (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A daring novella about the loss of innocence in pre-war Germany.

Reunion is the story of intense and innocent devotion between two young men growing up in "the soft, serene, bluish hills of Swabia," and the sinister (but all too mundane) forces that end both their friendship and their childhood.

The year is 1932. Hans Schwartz is Jewish, the son of a Stuttgart doctor who asserts that the rise of the Nazis is "a temporary illness, something like measles which will pass off as soon as the economic situation improves." The Holocaust would be unthinkable for these characters, but of course it looms over the story: Hans's friend, the young Count Konradin von Hohenfels, has a mother who keeps a portrait of Hitler on her dresser. The two boys share their most private thoughts and trips to the countryside of southwest Germany, discuss poetry and the past and present of their country, and argue the existence of a benevolent God.

The eventual disintegration of this cherished relationship foreshadows the fate of Europe's Jews-- but Uhlman doesn't end his story with neat polarities. Years later, exiled in America, Hans comes upon a revelation about von Hohenfels which provides a stunning denouement and leaves the reader recalling Uhlman's haunting, lyrical descriptions of the vineyards, opera houses, and dark forests of Württemberg.

"Hundreds of bulky tomes have now been written about the age when corpses were melted into soap to keep the master race clean; yet I sincerely believe that this slim volume will find its lasting place on the shelves."--Arthur Koestler, from the Introduction


About the Author
Fred Uhlman was born in Stuttgart in 1901 and, as an anti-Nazi lawyer, was forced to leave in 1933 for England, where he became a well-known painter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 26, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374525153
• ISBN-13: 978-0374525156
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #756,133 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The shock of this story has stayed with me for 21 years., July 11, 1998

By A Customer

This small but powerful novella is a striking and stunning story. It is the story of a young Jewish boy in Germany whose new classroom member is from an aristocatic family. This new boy is immediately popular due to his good looks, intelligence, athletic abilities, and family standing. The young Jewish boy realizes that given his own stature and desire to befriend the new boy will be a difficult task. He successfully makes great efforts to distinguish himself as a scholar. This results in a close friendship between the two boys. Given the new boys family status the Jewish boy is limited as to how much of this world of his new friend he can be a part of. The young Jewish boy is painfully aware of these limitations. The resulting Nazi domination and war bestows powerful changes in this friendship leaving feelings of betrayal and loss. The young Jewish boy painfully lives with these feelings. The ending was the most powerful I had ever experienced in a book. It was totally unsuspected and shocking. The book caused much thought provoking that has permenantly stayed with me.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting. The ending will stay with you for a long time., July 30, 1998

By A Customer

I read this novella after I saw the film on Bravo. As good as that was the book is a hundred times better. Uhlman depicts a beautiful friendship between to young men that is ravaged by the insane hatred that was so prevalent during the Third Reich. In such a short work Uhlman is able to create characters that are entirely fleshed out, entirely real. The ending is a killer. I highly recommend this title.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, March 14, 2004

By	Kenneth Scheffler (Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Reunion (Hardcover)

A short, excellent novella about the relationship of two boys on the eve of Hitler's rise to power in Germany. On of the boys, Hans Schwarz--the narrator--is the son of a doctor (and former officer in the Imperial Army), a descendent of rabbis and shopkeepers, whose German roots go back hundreds of years, and whose Jewishness is little more than a matter of heritage, not faith. He feels himself to be as German as anyone can be, but even moreso, like many Germans, a citizen of a region (in this case Swabia), of which he is fiercely proud. At school--and exclusive school for the elite--he befriends Konradin von Hohenloh, a member of one of the most noble of aristocratic families. Despite their difference, a friendship ensues--but is brief and idyllic. Soon the outside world, of which they had remained largely ignorant, begins to creep into their lives, and their friendship is unalterably effected.

Reunion is an excellent short study of this tragic time, and I highly recommend it to everyone.