 Fallada, who had many personal problems, including morphine addiction, had been both institutionalized and incarcerated during the Nazi era.He did not at first want to write the story, saying he had not fought back and had even cooperated with the Nazis.However, unlike many writers and intellectuals who fled Nazi Germany, Fallada had felt too attached to the German language and culture to leave, despite the fact that he was urged to flee and had been blacklisted by the Nazis.