The Seventh Cross Summary
Anna Seghers

The Seventh Cross Overview

The Seventh Cross, by Anna Seghers (1900 – 1983) is a thriller and a critique of Nazi Germany, written in exile in 1939, and first published in 1942. Seghers, who was Jewish and a member of the Communist Party, wrote the novel as an exposé of Nazi brutality but also in tribute to her country and its people. The protagonist is George Heisler, a Communist who – along with six others – has escaped from a concentration camp. The novel follows the course of his escape over a week, switching between George and a varied cast of minor characters, thereby offering insight into society as a whole. Using a predominately third-person point of view, the novel addresses themes of survival, trust and humanity, while exploring intergenerational conflict and relations between individual, community and state.