The questionnaire

In 1951, the world-famous, highly controversial work was published. The book became one of the greatest successes of the post-war period. A unique, bold idea transforms into a report on a tumultuous life while simultaneously portraying German post-war history. Ernst von Salomon demonstrates the absurdity of a bureaucratic-collective measure that sought to categorize people. With his painfully precise and exceedingly detailed responses, he turns the Great Questionnaire of the then-military government into a document of conscience and truth research for our century, thus illustrating through the example of an individual fate the lives of us all amid the historical forces and powers to which they are subjected. In a rich, thrilling display of impressive experiences, retrospectives and perspectives unfold, compelling the reader to become aware of their own position in the course of history.