Totalitarismus aus der Sicht zweier Dissidenten. Ignazio Silones “Die Schule der Diktatoren” (1938) und Manès Sperbers “Zur Analyse der Tyrannis” (1939)

This essay examines two fundamental texts on the basis of several biographic and poetic analogies between the life and works of Ignazio Silone and Manès Sperber: Die Schule der Diktatoren (1938) and Zur Analyse der Tyrannis (1939). Both texts were written in the same period, though entirely independently of one another, amid growing disillusionment following the Communist experience. Despite their different style, they both analyze and denounce with equal lucidity the phenomenon of totalitarianism, particularly focusing on the figure of the dictator as well as those political, economic, and social conditions leading to the establishment and preservation of tyranny. Meticulous archival work and an analysis of the correspondence between the two authors have brought to light their editorial collaboration, their personal relationship, friendship, and mutual esteem.