Retired constitutional judge Rudolf Heppner falls into the public spotlight due to right-wing extremist remarks about deserters and the Nazi-era judiciary. Criminal consequences are on the table, but investigations by the domestic intelligence agency and the Federal Criminal Police Office are not advancing. Eventually, a young criminal psychologist named Jasina Behrens is commissioned to draft an evaluation of Heppner’s mental state.
For Jasina, the case is more than a professional assignment. She fled Syria with her parents to Germany as a child, while her younger brother remained in the homeland. He later refused to serve in the Syrian army—and has since been considered missing. The confrontation with the topic of desertion touches her personally. In numerous conversations, a wary closeness develops between her and the former judge, revealing not only Heppner’s own family history but also venturing far back into the past.
Glimpses into the Legal System of the 1960s
“A Forgotten Debt” (Amazon Affiliate Link) draws a historical arc to Raimund Bach, who, as a so-called “half-Jewish” person, refused his transfer order in late summer 1944. For months he lived hidden in Amsterdam, constantly threatened by discovery and death. This second narrative layer links individual survival with the violence of a system that branded desertion as treason—and whose legal aftereffects stretched into the young Federal Republic of Germany.
Historically grounded and shaped by medical expertise, the text unfolds a multi-layered portrait of postwar German society. It offers insights into the legal system of the 1960s and illuminates the process of denazification, marked by omissions. At the same time, the novel poses a fundamental question: How does a society deal with deserters—and with the motives behind their actions?
Arne Jensen spent many years as a physician and trauma therapist, and he was among the early writers to explore recent German history and its consequences for subsequent generations. In his debut novel “Something Beautiful Hidden” (Heyne Verlag), his experiences with family war trauma are brought together in literary form for the first time. Jensen lives with his family in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. (dd/pm)
