Address Unknown, by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor

The reminder of what happened in Address Unknown reopens the wound inflicted upon humanity by Hitler.

Address Unknown was first published in 1938. It is an epistolatory novel, written in the form of letters between two friends, one in Munich and one in San Francisco, between November, 1932, and March, 1934. Both men were German, but both had moved to San Francisco years before, perhaps after World War I, it is unclear, and started a business, the Schulse-Eisenstein Galleries. Martin moved back to Germany in 1932 and Max remained in San Francisco to run the gallery with Martin, ostensibly, buying art for the gallery in Germany.

Max, who was Jewish, wrote the first letter in the novel, and then the last. The tone of their letters was in the beginning one of dear old friends. At the end of 1932 and in early 1933, Martin referred to Max as “Uncle Max.” And then Hitler was mentioned, and Martin’s writing began to depict the cry of the National Socialists that Germany must fulfill its destiny. In July of 1933, Martin asked that Max cease his personal letters on account of German censors, and said to Max, “I have loved you, not because of your race but in spite of it.” Max persisted, sending a letter to Martin through a friend traveling to Germany, and Martin’s response, a picture of propaganda, ended with his observation that the two friends were “no longer in sympathy.” And then came the turning point. Max’s sister was killed by stormtroopers at Martin’s house, and Martin’s letter that delivered the news to Max began with “Heil Hitler.” How Max reacted in early 1934 brought the story to a brilliant, yet troubling, conclusion.

The beauty of Address Unknown is its making human the horror in Germany during those times. The epistolary format helps with this, and it is the experience of the two old friends that brings the horror home for the reader, each of them having become a person next door through the very personal milieu created by the author in the early letters. In historical time, the events in Germany moved at lightning speed, something easy to capture in letters weeks apart. One’s first impression from the letters is that Martin undergoes the biggest transformation, from a kind friend to a Jew hating Nazi. Upon reflection after reading the story, one can’t miss that Max’s change is as great, and similarly as horrible as Martin’s, despite the tug of sympathy for the sister’s murder. It is appropriate that Address Unknown be republished. What happened in Germany must always be remembered in such a personal manner and not simply relegated to historical text. The retelling in the present day of the events in the novel reopens the wound inflicted upon humanity by Hitler. It is appropriate that a reminder of those events stab the younger generation in a manner not easy to forget.

For more information about the author of this novel go to publisher’s website here.