Abstract
On July 4, 1937, in the city of Valencia, the Second International Congress of Antifascist Writers
began its work. At that time, the civil war had already become a war of a significant dimension
internationally. Nonetheless, several German writers dared to visit Spain in order to participate in
the congress and others even took part of the International Brigades. Some of their experiences
were later described in their literature that will be the object of this contribution. It is going to
analyze the transformation of these memories into fictional literature and also how these personal
memories have been converted into memory in literature. That s why the analysis will not be
limited to the works of those writers who experienced the war themselves (like Wille Bredel,
Anna Seghers). It will moreover also include works of the next generations (like Hans Magnus
Enzensberger and Erich Hackl) and have a closer look at the transformation, the original
memories have suffered ever since.