History’s warnings are often first sounded by its satirists. Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935) was a German-Jewish journalist, anti-militarist, and staunch critic of the German Nazi Party. Using his pen and his words, he warned the Weimar Republic against the rising tide of Nazism. To escape persecution, Tucholsky fled to Sweden. His works and writings were later destroyed during the 1933 Nazi book burnings, and his German citizenship was officially revoked.

Tucholsky was one of the most prolific and versatile voices of his time, famously writing for the journal Die Weltbühne under four different pseudonyms (Kaspar Hauser, Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger, and Ignaz Wrobel). His works ranged from the 1931 novel “Schloss Gripsholm,” to scathing political satires—such as his 1931 piece “The Soldier,” which contained the notorious phrase: “Soldiers are murderers.”