Anpassung, Widerstand und Flucht im Baskenland und Mallorca. Eine Analyse der Exil-Romane Kestens und Ottens über den Spanischen Bürgerkrieg

Abstract

The novel Die Kinder von Gernika (The children of Gernika) by Hermann Kesten is the only text in German that deals in-depth with the bombing of Gernika by the Condor Legion. Narrated by a teenager that is a victim of the bombing, the descriptions of death in Durango and Gernika and the images of Bilbao in those times make up what are perhaps the most intense war scenes of the whole of the German literature in exile. This article also compares the novel with the work of another German writer in exile, Karl Otten, who analyses the social and psychological conduct of the people of Majorca under the threat of fascism.