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A lost novel from 1943 predicted the Holocaust. Now, it has been recovered.

JL;DR SUMMARY Friedrich Torberg's 1943 novel, "Mein ist die Rache" or "Vengeance is Mine," envisioned the horrors of the Holocaust even as it unfolded. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

World War IiConcentration CampsHolocaust LiteratureOppressionResistanceHolocaust PredictionFriedrich TorbergVengeance Is MineJewish EmigrésBoiler House Press

Places mentioned

New York City, New York, United States
"dedicated to forgotten books. It was translated by Stephanie Gorell Ortega. When I came across it, I thought, My gosh, this sounds so fascinating, said Brad Bigelow, who edits the Recovered Books series. How is that this book never got translated and it just got overlooked? Torbergs novella, set in November 1940, opens with a nameless narrator waiting on a New Jersey pier for a ship carrying friends from Europe."
Los Angeles, California, United States
"be mythologized as Western rightists battle imaginary communists throughout the United States capital before Washington falls to communism, which would continue to oppress during those days. # The loss of LA is, in a sense, about erasing memory, generational trauma, & privilege that goes unspoken & unchecked. The lattermost task is bigger than ourselves, & there is a distinct feeling of reach inside how Anderson shapes reality through interspersed vignettes. ## A>"

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Retrieved 2026-04-03 18:00:30 UTC
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