HEINRICH HEINE's FAMOUS and, with regard to Nazi Germany, chillingly prophetic words from 1821 might be used to suggest a direct linear development from the book burnings of spring 1933 to the implementation of the “Final Solution” of mass killings of Jews and others, following decisions taken at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, and to imply a monolithic draconian policing of writing and writers under the regime. In fact, reality was more complex: censorship was undermined by the existence of competing state and party organs, a far from consistent or foolproof system of control of writers, a failure to recognize the potential oppositional content and significance of many works, and also a degree of official tactical tolerance of dissonant writing. Nevertheless, the room for maneuver for those writers opposed to the regime, who after 1933 did not choose the often harsh and uncertain path of emigration but opted to continue their literary careers under the regime, was severely constrained. In order to be published by journals and publishing houses that had been systematically brought under the control of party and state, and to lend expression to their opposition, such writers had to deal in ambiguity and employ a range of techniques to disguise their real intent, thereby running the risk that success in fooling a censor might also mean target readers failed to see the intended message.

The publication in 2002 of Carl Zuckmayer's Geheimreport (Secret report), a set of character sketches on leading figures in German cultural life under the Nazi regime prepared for the American authorities in 1943– 44, constituted a significant milestone in the reappraisal of literary and cultural production under National Socialism. It demonstrated that any view based on a simple dichotomy between opposition and dissent, on the one hand, and collaboration and “fellow traveling” on the other, is simply not tenable. The writer's nuanced and differentiated appraisal of fellow authors who, unlike Zuckmayer himself, had decided to stay in Germany reflects the reality of life, writing, and publishing under the regime.