Jürgen Thorwald Collection

Jürgen Thorwald (1915-2006), was born Hans Bongartz in Solingen on October 28, 1915. After dropping out of medical school, he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cologne in 1934, majoring in journalism and aiming to become a journalist and freelance writer. From 1934 on, he wrote for various National Socialist media. His first extensive work appeared in 1939 under the title Luftwaffe - Industrie - Luftfahrt ("Air Force - Industry - Aviation"). Bongartz's role during the National Socialist era has not yet been adequately researched.

From 1948 on, Thorwald worked for the conservative weekly Christ und Welt ("Christian and World"). From that time on, he used the alias Jürgen Thorwald.

In 1949/1950, Thorwald became a best-selling author in postwar Germany with his work Die große Flucht ("The Great Escape") which includes the two volumes Es begann an der Weichsel ("It began on the Vistula") and Das Ende an der Elbe ("The End on the Elbe"). Numerous novels and other non-fiction bestsellers on the History of Medicine, History of Criminology, and Contemporary History followed. In 1978, he published Das Gewürz. The Saga of the Jews in America.

The part of his estate library that was acquired by the Moses Mendelssohn Center in 2008 represents the extensive collection of sources and materials on the entire novel Das Gewürz. It includes 2,450 volumes as well as numerous copied materials.

Further Reading

Oels, David, „Dieses Buch ist kein Roman“. Jürgen Thorwalds „Die große Flucht“ zwischen Zeitgeschichte und Erinnerungspolitik. In: Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History, online version, 6 (2009), H. 3, DOI: https://doi.org/10.14765/zzf.dok-1809, print version: S. 367-390.