The Death of the Adversary

A portrait of the perilous psychological effects of denial, a terrifying account of Hitler's rise to power from the perspective of a German-Jewish citizen, and a triumphant return from publishing obscurity to deserved acclaim, Hans Keilson's The Death of the Adversary marks the re-emergence of a nearly forgotten literary voice. Fleeing the encroaching Nazi occupation of Germany in 1936, Keilson moved to what would become Nazi-occupied Holland where he remained in hiding until the war's end, and also wrote Adversary. In brief chronological chapters that advance from childhood to adulthood, Keilson's unnamed narrator describes his gradual loss of innocence regarding his tenuous position as a Jew in an increasingly hostile environment. Clinging to a desperately naïve belief that B.—a stand-in for Hitler—exists as a kind of moral impossibility that will correct itself, and that his outrageous plans for Jews can't be real, the narrator soon finds himself surrounded by evidence to the contrary. In order to survive, he is forced to radically alter his position, both philosophically and practically. Though there are unfortunate flaws with Ivo Jarosy's 1962 translation of the text—stiffly rendered dialogue, speculative turns that dissolve into murk—ultimately, they do little to diminish the impact of this fascinating and surprisingly uplifting book. For the record, Keilson is still alive, over 100 years old, and living happily in Amsterdam.