freedom of German Jews. Jews could not sit on juries, professional Jews such as lawyers, doctors, and dentists were no longer allowed to practice, university enrollment was reduced, and attendance at cultural events was forbidden.

In September of 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted, which prohibited marriage between Jews and non-Jews, made extramarital relationships between Jews and non-Jews illegal, limited Jews’ ability to hire female domestic help, and prohibited Jews from flying German flags. Hitler summarily blamed all of Germany’s problems on the Jews, even as the Jewish population began to dwindle. Once he had reduced their status, he instituted more drastic solutions to what he called the ‘‘Jewish Question.’’

Once the Nuremberg Laws were in place, the elimination of Jews became a top priority in the regime. On November 9, 1938, an event known as Kristallnacht (‘‘the night of broken glass’’) took place. It involved the destruction of two hundred synagogues and a thousand Jewish businesses. In addition to the irreparable property damage, many Jews were beaten and killed.

Because other countries were unwilling to allow German Jews to immigrate, Hitler began forcing Jews to move to ghettoes. This would be the transition step to his ‘‘final solution.’’ Reinhard Heydrich, an SS leader, organized the Einsatzgruppen, an elite killing squad created for the sole purpose of massacring Jews. However, Heydrich soon found that his squad could not kill people as fast as he would like, and there was a danger to the sanity of the members of his elite group.

The next step was to starve as many of the people in the ghettoes as possible, while using others to construct concentration camps. Many of these laborers were literally worked to death; the lifespan of laborers forced to work on building Auschwitz was only three or four months.

Once the concentration camps were complete, Nazi officials devised very efficient means of genocide. Soon, Jews from all over Europe were transported by train to the concentration camps, where most would meet their deaths. Once they arrived, their heads would be shaved so German manufacturers could use the hair. Any valuables had to be surrendered to the officials at once.

The numbers are staggering. In two months’ time in 1942, three hundred thousand Jews from Warsaw were gassed at Treblinka. On one day in July of 1944, officials at Auschwitz killed 34,000 prisoners. In all, 750,000 were killed at Auschwitz, and one and a half million died in Maidanek. By the end of the war, the Nazis had murdered six million Jews.

Detailed Entries
Klemperer’s diary is full of minute details about his private life, the books he is writing, and the events occurring in Nazi Germany. These details are what give the diary its historical significance as well as its human dimension. At times, however, readers may find the level of detail a bit difficult to absorb. While the reactions of people to the Third Reich are fascinating, the recurring lists of his and Eva’s ailments, as well as notations of the amount of money spent on cat food and of what plants and shrubs have been purchased for landscaping, can seem a bit mundane.

Klemperer had been an avid diarist since the age of seventeen, and it is clear that by the time he reached his fifties, he was not at all self-conscious in his entries. He wrote for himself, not for posterity, which is why the entries often contain minute detail about topics that are of little interest to the reader. They do, however, provide insight into Klemperer’s personality and show him to be an ordinary man.

The details about the rise of Nazism, on the other hand, are both intriguing and historically important. Because Klemperer refuses to accept the Third Reich, he is affronted by its appearance in every aspect of his life. He sees it as the reason he is forced to retire from his position as a university professor, and he also sees it in toothpaste packaging; its pervasiveness horrifies him.

On March 22, 1933, for example, he notes, ‘‘A young man with a swastika comes into the school on some official errand or other. A class of fourteenyear- olds immediately begin singing the Horst Wessel Song [a Nazi song].’’ Other images serve as ‘‘signs of the times,’’ such as when Klemperer receives a cat magazine displaying a swastika or when, in 1935, the Nazis try to create German names for the months.

Later, the realities of ever-present Nazi power take on a more sinister quality. Klemperer explains on September 18, 1941, that when one person in the Jewish ghetto visits another, he or she rings three times. He adds, ‘‘That has been agreed, so that no one catches fright. A simple ring could be the police.’’

Blend of Formality and Informality
Klemperer’s writing is formal in tone but informal at times in content and sentence structure. His diction and vocabulary frequently remind the reader that he is an academic and that he is accustomed to speaking and writing in a lofty, cerebral manner.

He relates the progress of his book on eighteenth- century French literature, and he includes new observations for his study of language in the Third Reich. Such writing is familiar to him, so it finds its way into his personal writing. When discussing his friends, he often describes their fundamental philosophical differences or his close observations as to why he admires or respects them. In such cases, the content is centered on analytical thinking. In these ways, Klemperer’s diary is formal.

In other ways, the diary is quite informal. Because Klemperer did not intend the diary to be published, he was comfortable writing incomplete sentences that nevertheless expressed a complete thought. An example is in the March 27, 1933, entry: ‘‘The Köhlers depressed and cautiously gritting their teeth.’’ On July 20, 1933, he simply notes, ‘‘Political situation bleak,’’ and on July 14, 1934, he writes, ‘‘The terrible uncertainty.’’ Such phrases and incomplete comments fully express Klemperer’s state of mind at the time of each entry.

In addition, he writes about domestic details such as his love for his cats, the latest gossip about a friend, or Eva’s swollen ankle. Together, the formal and informal elements of Klemperer’s diary provide a full portrayal of the man behind the diary.

• 1930s: Germans often keep private diaries in which they can express their true opinions and feelings. Fear of discovery is a risk, and many diaries are self-censored by using pseudonyms, euphemisms, and vague references.

Today: In the United States, freedom of speech is a constitutionally protected right enjoyed by all citizens. Americans freely criticize the government and its institutions.

• 1930s: Klemperer writes on March 17, 1933, that some German papers are permanently banned while others are sometimes banned for a few days. Government control of the press becomes an important means of influencing public opinion and maintaining support for the regime.

Today: Freedom of the press is protected by constitutional law in the United States. No matter how extreme the point of view, anyone has the right to print a newspaper expressing it. This freedom extends to harsh criticism of the government and its officials.

• 1930s: On April 20, 1933, Germany celebrates the Day of the Nation, the Fuehrer’s (Adolf Hitler’s) birthday.

Today: In the United States, influential leaders do not declare their birthdays national holidays. Only a few such birthdays are recognized in the United States, and each of these birthdays was declared a holiday after the honored person’s death as a tribute to that person’s life and contribution. Americans recognize Martin Luther King Day (to honor the birthday of the civil rights leader) and President’s Day (to honor the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln).

• 1930s: Klemperer’s annual salary as a professor of Romance languages and literature at Germany’s Dresden Technical University is the equivalent (according to today’s foreign exchange rates) of $4300.

Today: Primarily because of inflation, but also due to increased cost of living and various other economic and cultural differences, the average annual salary of a U.S. professor of Humanities or Liberal Arts is around $65,000.

• I Will Bear Witness was adapted for the stage by Karen Malpede and George Bartenieff and premiered off-Broadway in the 2000–2001 season. It was presented as part of the ‘‘Classic Stages / New Visions’’ series (see the Web site: http:// www.nypost.com/theatre/031201a.htm). The oneman show, directed by Malpede and starring Bartenieff, is scheduled to be performed at theaters around the world. For example, The Vassar College’s Jewish Studies Program will present I Will Bear Witness at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House (see the Web site: http://www.vassar.edu/ relations/011107.klemperer.html); I Will Bear Witness is also scheduled to be performed at the Ko Fest (see the Web site: http://www.kofest. com/performances).

Sources
Bartov, Omer, ‘‘The Last German,’’ in New Republic, December 28, 1998, p. 34.

Bernstein, Richard, ‘‘How the Little Things Add Up to Horror,’’ in New York Times Book Review, November 11, 1998.

Brady, Philip, Review, in Times Literary Supplement, January 24, 1997, pp. 27–28.

Gay, Peter, ‘‘Inside the Third Reich,’’ in New York Times Book Review, November 22, 1998.

Johnson, Daniel, ‘‘What Victor Klemperer Saw,’’ in Commentary, Vol. 109, No. 6, June 2000, p. 44.

Review, in Publishers Weekly, October 5, 1998, p. 65.

Review, in Time, November 30, 1998, p. 126.

Shapiro, Laura, Review, in Newsweek, Vol. 132, No. 20, November 16, 1998, p. 84.

Tennenbaum, Silvia, Review, in Nation, November 16, 1998, p. 12.

Further Reading
Hahn Beer, Edith, The Nazi Officer’s Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust, Rob Weisbach Books, 1999. In this memoir, the author recalls her experience as a Jewish woman acting the part of a Christian wife to a Nazi officer. Although her husband knows about her true heritage, he keeps her secret. When he is sent to Russia, she becomes a strong, independent woman who is able to save herself and her infant daughter under the most dangerous circumstances.

Klemperer, Victor, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1941–1945, translated by Martin Chalmers, Random House, 2000. This is the second volume of Klemperer’s wartime diary. It relates the events leading up to the end of the war, including Klemperer’s summons for deportation, his and Eva’s escape from Dresden, and the end of the war.

———, The Language of the Third Reich: LTI, Lingua Tertii Imperii: A Philologist’s Notebook, translated by Martin Brandy, Athlone Press, 2000. Klemperer’s study of the language of the Third Reich is described in his diary. Today, this study is considered one of the most important of its kind in researching the Third Reich.

Schleunes, Karl A., The Twisted Road to Auschwitz: Nazi Policy Toward German Jews, 1933–1939, University of Illinois Press, 1990. Schleunes provides a detailed account of the development of the Nazi regime with regard to their policies toward the Jews prior to the mass executions that took place in concentration camps. Originally published in 1970, this book opened the way for additional historical studies of the Holocaust.