Danzig - The Tin Drum Part 26

Kathe-Kruse dolls: individually designed, handmade cloth dolls from the workshop of Kathe Kruse, one-time actress.

Kyfhauser Bund: a right-wing, monarchist, ex-serviceman's a.s.sociation of a paramilitary nature founded in 1900. Its merger with other servicemen's groups after World War I resulted in a combined membership of over four million.

Matka Boska Czestokowa: an icon representing the Virgin Mother which hangs in a monastery church in Czestokowa and is traditionally believed to have been painted by St. Luke. Its miraculous power is said to be responsible for the lifting of a Swedish siege in the seventeenth century. One of the most famous religious and national shrines in Poland; still visited anually by throngs of pilgrims.

Niemoller, Pastor Martin: a Protestant clergyman and the leading figure in the anti-n.a.z.i Confessional Church who spent seven years in a concentration camp.

Organisation Todt: the organization directed by engineer Fritz Todt which conscripted forced labor -- often children -- for construction work, notably on the fortification of the West Wall in 1938 and the Atlantic Wall in 1940.

Pan Kichot: Polish for Don Quixote.

pay book: unlike American soldiers, who carry no identification but their dogtags, the German soldiers carried a booklet containing full information as to their vital statistics, military history, and pay.

Poland is not yet lost, etc.: in reference to the Polish national anthem (Jeszcze Polska Nie Zginela).

Rauschning, Hermann: President of the Danzig Senate 1933-1934. Rauschning ended his a.s.sociation with Hitler and the National Socialists in 1934 when he became opposed to the policies of the Danzig Gauleiter Forster. He fled from Germany in 1936 and subsequently wrote several books criticizing the n.a.z.i regime.

Rentenmark: the temporary currency established in 1923 to stabilize money during the inflationary period in Germany following World War I.

Sauerbruch, Professor Ferdinand: a famous German surgeon (1875-1951).

Speicherinsel: an island formed by the Mottlau River in the middle of Danzig, so-called because of its famous half-timbered grain warehouses.

Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude): a n.a.z.i organization which provided regimented leisure for members of the German working cla.s.s. It provided theaters, sports, travel, and vacation opportunities at reduced prices. No organized social or recreational group was allowed to function in Germany except under the control of this official, all-embracing organization.

Sutterlin script: the standard German script developed by Ludwig Sutterlin and taught in schools from 1915 to 1945.

Winter Aid (Winterhilfe): the major n.a.z.i charity, set up under the slogan "War on Hunger and Cold," to which the German people made compulsory contributions.

ZOB: Zydowska Organizaqa Bojowa, or Jewish Combat Organization, an underground movement formed in the ghetto in 1942-1943.

GuNTER GRa.s.s was born in 1927 in Danzig. Active as an artist, poet and playwright, he has lived in Paris and traveled widely in Europe. At present he lives in Berlin with his wife and twin sons. The Tin Drum, the author's first novel, has appeared in Germany, France and England and has been translated into all major European languages.