Siegfried Lenz

Siegfried Lenz, born 1926 in Lyck/ East Prussia, died 2014 in Hamburg, was drafted into the German Navy in 1943, deserted and became a British prisoner of war in 1945. After the war he studied philosophy, English and literature in Hamburg, worked as a feuilleton editor and became, in 1951, a freelance writer whose novels have sold millions of copies worldwide.