Born in 1902, Ernst von Salomon was the son of a Prussian officer who later became head of the Frankfurt criminal police force. He was one of the most important figures of the generation, whose first-hand experience of the war led to a spirit of rebellion against both the old imperial order and the new democratic one, which many considered incapable of guiding the rebirth of the German people and restoring the nation to its role as a great power. Von Salomon was a militant member of the "free corps" and was acctive against the Spartacists in Berlin. In 1920, he took part in the Wolfgang Kapp Putsch and in 1922 was involved in the assassination of Walther Rathenau, the Foreign Minister. Von Salomon was arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment; after his release he dedicated himself to publishing and to political journalism. His autobiography, "I Proscritti", was published in 1930. More than any other work of the time, this book bears witness to the mixture of rebelliousness and activism that characterised his generation. 'It wasn't important that what we did seemed to be right; what was important in those suffocating days was to act. The future of Germany was by now in the hands of single individuals, and in that incomparable moment of grace every individual had a direct part to play in German destiny.' Arrested by the Americans in 1945, he was interned until the following year, after which he dedicated himself to political journalism. He died in 1972.
Salomon as a cadet in 1918
