EVERY MAN DIES
ALONE BY HANS FALLADA
22.4.18
I had never heard of Hans Fallada. Recently I went to a book exhibition and out of
curiosity entered a conference room. I sat on a back seat. The topic was great
books written by little known authors. There for the first time I heard the
name of Hans Fallada a German author who lived in Berlin during the Nazi
regime. I purchased his book 'Every man dies alone' written in 1944.
It is a extraordinary story of a old German couple Otto
Quangel and Anna whose only son dies in the war.
The couple realizes that the Nazi regime is cruel and that
ordinary people are being killed ,tortured and made to endure endless hardships
just to satisfy the needs of a insane ideology.
The Jews were hunted and exterminated. A extraordinary
censor was imposed on the people. Everyone was being spied upon. The Gestapo
and the SS were a law unto themselves. The courts became a part of the Nazi
regime and instead of dispensing justice
were issuing death sentences to anyone suspected of raising the voice against
the Nazi regime.
The middle classes and the common man just did not raise
enough voices against these injustices. Most of the people remained silent and
did not want to invite any trouble by raising their voices against the policies
and actions of the Nazi regime.
Under these troublesome conditions the old couple decided
that something has to be done to make the people aware that the Nazis were
taking the country to the dogs. Hitler was behaving like a mad person and was
waging war after war and taking over countries. Countless lives were being
lost. All this was being done in the name of German nationalism. A distorted
nationalism which aimed to destroy everything in its path. A nationalism which
had no place for decency and humanity A meaningless nationalism which defined love for the country as hate
against those who do not agree with their definition of nationalism. Following
are some quotes from the book.
1. " Because you could see it with your eyes closed,
the way they were making separations between ordinary citizens and Party
members. Even the worst Party member was worth more to them than the best
ordinary citizen."
2. " But foreman Quangel liked equality and
fair-dealing. To him a human being was a human being, whether he was in the
Party or not.
3. “But the main thing is that we remain different from them, that
we never allow ourselves to be made into them, or start thinking as they do. Even
if they conquer the whole world, we must refuse to become Nazis.”
4.
We are like good seeds in a field of weeds. If
it wasn’t for the good seeds, the whole field would be nothing but weeds. And
the good seeds can spread their influence…
5. “Show me one that isn’t afraid!” said the brownshirt
contemptuously. “And it’s so unnecessary. They just need to do what we tell
them. It’s because people have got in the habit of thinking. They have the idea
that thinking will help them.They need to do as they’re told. The Führer can do
their thinking for them.”
The old couple decided to write small cards educating the
people about the evils of Hitler regime. Their sons being slaughtered in the
unnecessary war waged by Hitler. The injustices being meted by courts by giving
out biased judgments. The hate against the Jews and their killings. The couple
used to enter surreptitiously residential buildings
and office complexes and drop these cards. After some time these postcards came
to the notice of the Gestapo and they started their investigation. And one
day the Gestapo catches up with them. They are arrested.
They are sentenced to death and till the
end remain defiant to the cruel tortures of the Gestapo
.
They die with their decency intact their heads held high.
As I read the novel it reminded me of the current state of
affairs of our nation. It seemed to me we are also moving on the same path
which the Nazi regime treaded some 80 years back. A vicious version of
nationalism which we had never heard before is being thrust upon us. A
religious nationalism in which Hindutva is the God and humans and humanity has
no place in it. Where killings and lynching's of Muslims, demeaning of
minorities are overlooked with a snide smile. Heinous crimes like rapes of
minorities are defended. Perpetuators of genocides of minorities are set free
by the courts. Cases of those involved in such communal crimes are withdrawn.
If anybody questions these acts they are labeled as anti nationals. Judiciary
refuses to hear petitions asking for enquiry into suspicious deaths allegedly
by state actors. Such petitions are termed as insult to the judiciary by the
highest court. Media instead of questioning the rulers questions the
opposition.
I would suggest that you must read this book and decide for
yourself whether you would prefer silence or raise your voice if such a Nazi
like situation is developing in our country. Nazi Germany was ultimately
destroyed but at what cost. Nobody wants that to happen here.
Hans Fallada wrote this book in 24 days and thereafter died
before it was published.
ASHOK KUMAR
