Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr (1956–2018, born in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a prominent British novelist best known for the Bernie Gunther series, a collection of hard-boiled historical thrillers set in Nazi Germany and the Cold War era.  His most famous work began with the Berlin Noir trilogy (1989–1991), featuring a cynical private investigator navigating the moral complexities of the Third Reich. The Gunther series extensively addresses Jewish themes through the lens of historical crime fiction set during and after the Third Reich. While Kerr himself was not Jewish, his work meticulously documents the systematic persecution of Jews as a core narrative element. 

Jewish Themes and Content

Protagonist’s Heritage: In later novels, it is revealed that Bernie Gunther has a Jewish grandparent, making him “one-quarter Jewish”. This revelation shifts his perspective from a cynical observer to someone personally threatened by Nazi racial laws, according to which he was considered Jewish (i.e. fair game).

The Holocaust as Background: While not always the central plot, the Shoah is a “pervasive undercurrent” in the series. Bernie often finds himself as an unwilling witness or “unwilling perpetrator” to atrocities, such as when he is forced to lead an SS police battalion in Minsk in 1941.

Key Historical Events:

Kristallnacht: The Pale Criminal (1990) concludes with a graphic description of the aftermath of the “Night of Broken Glass,” capturing the destruction of synagogues and Jewish property.

The Greek Shoah: Greeks Bearing Gifts  (2018) explores the Nazi extermination of the long-standing Jewish community in Thessaloniki.

Rosenstrasse Protests: A Man Without Breath (2013) features the 1943 Berlin protests where non-Jewish wives successfully demonstrated for the release of their Jewish husbands.

Post-War Jewish Vengeance: In The One from the Other (2006), Bernie is pursued by Jewish revenge squads roaming post-war Europe seeking justice against war criminals.

Argentina’s Anti-Semitism: A Quiet Flame (2008) examines Argentina’s complicity in harboring Nazis and its own domestic anti-Jewish policies, including the historical Directive 11, which forbade Jewish immigration.

Jewish Characters: In the early books of the series, Bernie’s clients are frequently Jewish individuals seeking his help to find missing loved ones or to help them emigrate safely amidst rising persecution. [Google/AI]

Kerr, Philip, [Bernie Gunther], (The Pale Criminal [hc, Viking, 1990] 978-0670824335 [pb, Penguin Publishing Group, 2005]) 978-0142004159

Kerr, Philip, [Bernie Gunther], (If the Dead Rise Not) [hc, Marian Wood Books/Putnam, 2010] 978-0399156151 [pb, Penguin, 2011] 978-0143118534