The draughtsman
Erfurt, Germany in 1944 is a quiet place. And everyone has their part to play in the war effort. This is the story of one young man who could not. This is the story of Ernst, a young German man who gets his first job working at the prestigious firm of Topf & Sons. It's a desperate time and good work is rare, so when this opportunity arrives, he is grateful for it and beholden to the men in the tailored suits who sport their allegiance to the party with pride. This job represents a chance for him to support his beautiful wife Etta, and build a home in the beautiful town of Erfurt. But what starts as a draftsman post quickly escalates into a role working on the designs for an oven that has a capability that has never yet been asked for. The client that Topf & Sons work for? The SS. And the story Ernst is told? That a typhus epidemic has caused this need for this new equipment. A brutal and brilliant entry into a life we shudder to examine, a novel that charts the rise of a young man held in the grasp of denial who must awaken to the reality of the genocide he has a hand in.
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- ISBN: 9780008126711
- Physical Description 490 pages ; 23 cm
- Publisher [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2017.
Additional Information
Summary
The Draughtsman
Speak out for the fate of millions or turn a blind eye? We all have choices. 'Absolutely exceptional. So beautifully written, with precision and wisdom and real emotional acuity ... A remarkable achievement' STEPHEN KELMAN, author of Pigeon English Germany, 1944. Ernst Beck's new job marks an end to months of unemployment. Working for Erfurt's most prestigious engineering firm, Topf & Sons, means he can finally make a contribution to the war effort, provide for his beautiful wife, Etta, and make his parents proud. But there is a price. Ernst is assigned to the firm's smallest team - the Special Ovens Department. Reporting directly to Berlin his role is to annotate plans for new crematoria that are deliberately designed to burn day and night. Their destination: the concentration camps. Topf's new client: the SS. As the true nature of his work dawns on him, Ernst has a terrible choice to make: turning a blind eye will keep him and Etta safe, but that's little comfort if staying silent amounts to collusion in the death of thousands. This bold and uncompromising work of literary fiction shines a light on the complex contradictions of human nature and examines how deeply complicit we can become in the face of fear.
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