David Baerwald’s 'The Fire Agent' Recasts 2 World Wars Through 1 Jewish Spy
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 2
David Baerwald’s 'The Fire Agent' Recasts 2 World Wars Through 1 Jewish Spy
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 2
Summary
David Baerwald’s newly reviewed novel follows Ernst, a German Jew whose life veers from Frankfurt to Milan and Tokyo instead of the more familiar Holocaust-era path.
That detour gives the book its edge: Ernst works both as a German chemical-company emissary and as a covert operative for the Frankfurt Group, a Jewish espionage network.
Baerwald ties Ernst’s moral conflict to the company’s evolution into IG Farben, shifting the story from fertilizer and famine prevention to weapons and wartime complicity.
The review says the family saga, based on Baerwald’s grandfather, stands out for its fluid prose and rare view of rising fascism in Germany and Japan, though its inserted photos blur novel and memoir.