Ernst Toller: A Youth in Germany and Other Writings

Ernst Toller (December 1, 1893 - May 22, 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, after which he became the head of its army. He was imprisoned for five years for his part in the armed resistance by the Bavarian Soviet Republic to the central government in Berlin. While in prison, Toller wrote several plays that gained him international renown. They were performed in London and New York City as well as in Berlin and other places.

In 1933, Toller was exiled from Germany after the Nazis came to power. He did a lecture tour in 1936-1937 in the United States and Canada, settling in California for a while before going to New York. He joined other exiles there. He died by suicide in May 1939.

This book of translations includes Toller's autobiography, A Youth in Germany, three books of poetry -- Poems of the Prisoners, The Swallow Book, Before Tomorrow. These writings include Toller's descriptions of growing up Jewish in Germany, his experience serving in the German Army in WWI, his experiences as a political revolutionary in the chaos of post WWI Germany, his imprisonment as a political prisoner following the collapse of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, and his exile from Germany under the Nazi regime who burned his books.