The concentration camps and death facilities such as Dachau, Treblinka, and Auschwitz that were part of The Final Solution were not implemented until after 1941. The type of concentration camp Ossietsky spent time at was mainly for political dissidents. By contemporary standards Anna would probably be transgender.

Throughout the book they are referred to by their early acronym NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party). Bob Fosse’s hit Broadway musical “Cabaret “and subsequent Hollywood film starring Lizzie Minnelli and Michael York (which is probably the most well-known pop culture depiction of Weimar Berlin) is an adaptation of Isherwood’s novel. Christopher Isherwood was a British novelist whose novel “Goodbye to Berlin,” based on his own personal experience in the pre-1930s city. However, despite tragedies like the one in Charlottesville VA, these conflicts remain relatively tame compared to the pitch street battles of their ideological forefathers a century earlier. And although it is a timely read given the current socio-political circumstances, Berlin in any time is one of the greatest visual and storytelling achievements in the medium and given enough time and commitment, it will never leave you. While Weimar Berlin is hardly untrod ground for historical fiction either in Germany or elsewhere, I can’t think of any other depiction as compelling, or with as much heart and soul as Jason Lutes’ creation. Given its scope, depth and dozens of characters - many who often have similar facial features - it may take several reading sessions to fully comprehend the threads of this historical spiderweb.

In depicting the journey from Weimar to the Third Reich, Lutes made sure not to suggest that any event was inevitable or to reduce any of its characters to historical aphorisms seen in countless depictions of the era.

Any lover of history will be impressed with how meticulously researched this project was when they reach Lutes’ bibliography of fiction and nonfiction resources including architecture and photography. When I finally traveled to the German capital in 2013, I absolutely made sure I took the comics with me. Whether to flee or stay and fight, collaborate or stand to the side, and - more importantly - how much humanity can we retain these are struggles that remain difficult and vital whether it is 1933 or 2020.Īs a lifelong history buff, and especially one of the 20th century anywhere in the world, I was automatically drawn to Berlin when I first picked up a couple issues of it’s original comic book form in 2005.

Berlin jason lutes hardcover