About the work
Schweyk in the Second World War is a play by Bertolt Brecht, written in 1943 in American exile, with music by Hanns Eisler; the premiere took place only in 1957 in Warsaw. It takes up the figure of the good soldier Švejk from Jaroslav Hašek's novel and transplants him into the Nazi era.
Plot
The Prague dog dealer Schweyk tries to manoeuvre through Nazi-occupied Prague with apparent stupidity, cunning subservience, and an unshakeable native wit. With feigned obtuseness he undermines orders, Gestapo interrogations, and finally conscription to the Eastern Front. On his absurd march toward Stalingrad, in which he becomes hopelessly lost, he even encounters a grotesquely inflated vision of Hitler. Schweyk's passive resistance triumphs over the murderous bureaucracy.
Cultural significance
Schweyk in the Second World War transplants Hašek's legendary anti-hero into Brecht's epic theatre and makes him the embodiment of the "little man" who undermines power through cunning submission. Eisler's songs, including the Song of the Moldau, lend the work poetic depth. The play is one of Brecht's most effective satirical engagements with fascism and is part of the standard repertoire.