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Token of a Covenant. Diary of an East Prussian Surgeon, 1945-47 . By Hans Graf von Lehndorff. Introduction by Paul Tillich. Translated by Elizabeth Mayer.
The diary of Count von Lehndorff covers a small part of what was happening, all over Europe and in the world at large, during the years of retreat. Bit it covers it so sensitively that one has the feeling that these experiences truly epitomize the experience of a people in an invaded country, wherever it might be: the anxious anticipation of what will come, the attempted repression of half-knowledge, the breakdown of the power to repress, the revival of hope, often superstitious, the final resignation - and then the frightful realization that a world has gone to pieces. All this we live through with the author of this diary; this alone would justify its translation for American readers. But there are other important elements in this diary, beyond dramatic history: the immensity of human suffering, the heroism of men and women, the devastation of cities and villages, of fields and woods, the vengeful savagery of the invading armies; and, in the midst of all this, the moments of human warmth, of life reaffirming itself against the overwhelming power of death, the timeless significance of Biblical verse, and, peculiarly German, the intimate human relationship to nature, the memories associated with special places as seasons. This book causes us to participate in a rare historical event. Beyond this, it is of universal interest, drawing us back to a period of history which defies all imagination- particularly in a period of comparative security such as this.
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