Hans Sahl--poet, novelist, critic, and translator--is one of the many writers who had to wrest their works from the devastating experience of persecution, exile, and isolation. Though his career did not flourish in America as it might have in Germany, his talent has been recognized and his impressive, if relatively small, body of creative writing is belatedly receiving attention and appreciation.

Sahl was born in Dresden in 1902 to Paul David and Anna Maasz Sahl. He spent his youth in Berlin and studied literature and art history at the Universities of Leipzig and Breslau. After receiving his doctorate in Breslau in 1924 he returned to Berlin to begin a promising career as a writer and critic. His carefully drafted and well-received reviews of books and theatrical productions appeared in Berlin's leading newspapers. He also belonged to the avant-garde who tried to elevate film criticism to a discipline as respected as...