Heidegger’s Glasses
Toward the end of World War II, a secret operation in Germany called Operation Mail flourishes in an abandoned mine shaft called the Scribe’s Compound. Multilingual persons chosen from the camp queues have been sent to an underground artificial city, which includes rose cobblestones, benches and a mechanical contraption changing the artificial sky from daytime to night displaying constellations present at Hitler’s birth. The Third Reich, having a secret interest in the occult, believes that the dead are often suspended on the astral plane while they await responses to unanswered letters. Hence letters written to concentration camp victims must be answered, and in their native language: “Like answers like.”
The Scribes are an eclectic group administered by Gerhardt Lodenstein and fed and clothed by Elie Schacten, who shares quarters with him. Minimal supervision is necessary, as letters to the dead are hardly a threat to the Reich. That is, until a particular letter arrives from philosopher Martin Heidegger to his optometrist, who has been sent to Auschwitz. Heidegger demands his new glasses, which had not yet been delivered. Goebbels panics because an unanswered letter from a live and famous philosopher could cause very uncomfortable questions, so a special Scribe must be chosen. But the plan devised by Elie will send suspicion through the compound and change everyone’s lives.
Frank’s novel is unique, often surreal, yet unclear regarding the letters. Allegedly written to the dead, the samples throughout the book, very chilling in their naïveté, appear to be written from the “dead” (i.e., Scribes) to reassure their families. Ambiguities notwithstanding, Heidegger’s Glasses is a rich, worthwhile read.
