The first autobiography of the writer and doctor Martin Gumpert, Hölle im Paradies (Hell in Paradise), appeared in 1939 from publisher Bermann Fischer in Stockholm. There, Gumpert depicted his arrival in America with a feeling of relief: “The wind became softer. The sky changed colour. The air smelled of earth. Seagulls circled the ship. On the horizon appeared a bluish strip. America.” From now on, Gumpert lived in two languages. In 1941 his first large English publication, First Papers, was published, which made him known to the American public. For German readers, he wrote the poems Berichte aus der Fremde (1948, Reports from Abroad) and the novel Der Geburtstag (1948, The Birthday). Autobiography (1954), a reworking and continuation of Hölle im Paradies, written in English, remained incomplete. Gumpert recorded his memories and experiences with his new environment in America by hand, during breaks from work or on trips, in various exercise books.

Martin Gumpert glued the visiting card of the literary agent Franz J. Horch to the typewritten manuscript. The extensive fragment was never subsequently sent to a publisher, either in Germany or the USA.