Günther Birkenfeld

Günther Birkenfeld (9 March 1901 - 22 August 1966) was a German writer. His books were banned during the Nazi years but he remained in the country and was conscripted for aircraft monitoring during the war. During the postwar period, in what had become the Soviet occupation zone, he was a co-founder, in 1948/49, of the anti-communist Combat Group against Inhumanity ("Kampfgruppe gegen Unmenschlichkeit").

Günther Birkenfeld was born in Cottbus and grew up in Berlin. He received his doctorate in 1923, and went on to work as an editor with the Paul Neff () publishing house. Between 1927 and 1930 he was General Secretary of the Protection Association of German Authors () (Schutzverband deutscher Schriftsteller). His youthful novel Dritter Hof links (published in English as A Room in Berlin) appeared in 1929, and was well received, also appearing in translation.

The political backdrop changed savagely in January 1933 when the Nazi Party took power and converted Germany into a one-party dictatorship. Birkenfeld's first novel was banned in Germany (although the English language translation appears still to have been available in London). Dritter Hof links appeared again on the list of banned books, together with his subsequent novel Liebesferne (1930), when the list was updated and reissued in 1938. During the twelve years the Nazis were in power, Birkenfeld (as he later explained to Alfred Kantorowicz () in 1947) managed to carry on in what was termed inner emigration in a low profile lectureship, also producing several popular biographical novels including one on Johann Gutenberg and another on the emperor Augustus. He was also conscripted, during the Second World War, for aircraft monitoring.

War ended in May 1945 and Berlin was divided into zones of occupation between the principal victor nations. Birkenfeld obtained a licence from the US occupation zone to edit and produce a twice monthly newssheet entitled Horizon: Newssheet for the younger generation (Horizont: Zeitschrift der jungen Generation). The title defined its target readership. Contributors were for the most part also from the younger generation, writing about problems of reorientation and training for a transformed postwar era. Under the leadership of the 45 year old Birkenfeld the young journalists rejected any form of intellectual suppression of important themes. That was particular criticism of the energetic ideological kidnapping of youth by the new Socialist Unity Party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands / SED) and its youth wing, the Free German Youth (Freie Deutsche Jugend / FDJ) across Berlin, most notably in the Soviet occupation zone which incorporated what would become known as East Berlin. The newssheet dealt primarily with political and social matters, but also featured a section headed "The arts of the future" and, from 1948, an "Experiments" section which provided a forum for established younger literary contributors such as Wolfdietrich Schnurre (1920–1989), Arnim Juhre () (1925-2015) and Ingeborg Euler (1927–2005). Horizon ceased to appear in September 1948 after newsprint (paper) ran out due to the Berlin Blockade.

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