Bruno Apitz

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Bruno Apitz (28 April 1900–7 April 1979) was a German writer.

He was born in Leipzig as the 12th child of a washer woman. He attended school until he was fourteen, then started training as a printer. During the First World War he was a passionate supporter of German communist party leader Karl Liebknecht. At the age of 17, he made a speech in front of striking factory workers. As a result, he was sentenced to 29 months in prison. In 1919 he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and in 1927 the more radical Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He took active part in the November Revolution of 1918 in Germany and the Kapp Putsch of 1920. During the latter he published his first poems and short stories in communist newspapers. His first play was written in 1924. He was repeatedly imprisoned under Nazi rule in various Concentration Camps for spreading socialistic Anti-War propaganda and being an active member of the Communist Party. From 1937 to 1945 he was an intern at Buchenwald, a Concentration Camp near Weimar. It was this stay that became the basis for his most famous novel, Nackt unter Wölfen (Naked among Wolves).

After 1945 he worked for the East German state film company Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft and as a radio play author. He was one of the founding members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which became the dominant party in East Germany.

Apitz was a member of the Academy of Arts and the PEN-Clubs of the DDR. His novel Naked under Wolves Nackt unter Wölfen was first published in 1958. It was translated into over 30 languages and gained him worldwide recognition.

Bruno Apitz was made a Citizen of Honour by his home town Leipzig in 1976. He died on April 7 1979 in Berlin.