The Questionnaire (novel by Salomon)

The Questionnaire (German: Der Fragebogen) is a 1951 autobiographical novel by the German writer Ernst von Salomon. It was published in the United Kingdom as The Answers. It is based on the denazification questionnaire which all Germans with some form of responsibility were forced to take by the military government after World War II. Salomon's detailed answers about his political background, membership of various organisations and so on become a portrayal of Germany during the interwar period, World War II and the immediate post-war period.

The book became a phenomenon in Germany and sold in large numbers. It was a reference point in the public discourse for years and has continued to be in print.

Plot

Salomon answers questions and recounts his time as a cadet in the Weimar Republic and in the Freikorps. He writes about battles in the Baltic states and about his involvement in the assassination of foreign minister Walther Rathenau. Salomon shares his experiences from France in the 1930s, from the German film industry during the NS era, the end of the war which he spent in Bavaria with his Jewish girlfriend, and how he after the surrender was tortured in an American prison camp.