Arnold Zweig

born Nov. 10, 1887, Glogau, Silesia,
Ger. [now Głogów, Poland]
died Nov. 26, 1968, East Berlin, E.Ger.
German writer best known for his
novel Der Streit um den Sergeanten
Grischa (1927; The Case of Sergeant
Grischa).
In 1933 Zweig left Germany for
Czechoslovakia. He later lived as an
émigré in Palestine until 1948, when he
moved to East Germany. He served as
president of the East German Academy of
Arts from 1950 to 1953.
The Case of Sergeant Grischa depicts
the social workings of the German army
during World War I through the story of
the Russian prisoner Grischa’s tragic
encounter with the vast machine of
Prussian military bureaucracy. Zweig’s
other works include Junge Frau von 1914
(1931; Young Woman of 1914), De Vriendt
kehrt Heim (1932; De Vriendt Goes Home),
Erziehung vor Verdun (1935; Education
Before Verdun), and Einsetzung eines
Königs (1937; The Crowning of a King),
each of which pursues the fortunes of
characters introduced in The Case of
Sergeant Grischa.