Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque was born in 1898 in Osnabrück, Germany, and grew up in the grim atmosphere preceding World War I. In 1916, he joined the military, where he witnessed what he described as "the greatest collective crime in history." In 1929, he published his book "All Quiet on the Western Front," considered the most honest and heartrending testimony of World War I, which achieved international success. In 1933, his books were burned by the Nazi regime, and he went into self-exile in Switzerland. In 1940, he emigrated to the United States and a few years later obtained American citizenship. He died in Locarno in 1970. Among his novels are "The Black Obelisk," "Three Comrades," "Arch of Triumph," and "Heaven Has No Favorites," which was published in 1958 and immediately translated into English. Erich Maria Remarque also wrote screenplays for Hollywood, where he spent his later years.