In spring 1933 Arnold Zweig wrote down the first ideas and outlines of a book that he intended to take stock of German-Jewish relations. In face of the Jews’ dramatic situation in Germany, Zweig wished that his work would meet with more interest abroad. As a consequence, the author viewed the German edition of the book, planned by the Amsterdam publisher Querido in October 1933, as merely a step towards several foreign-language editions, to appear as quickly as possible.

Zweig arrived in Sanary-sur-Mer in June 1933. Once there, the almost blind writer dictated the first version of the complete work to his secretary Lily Offenstadt within two months, intending to revise it afterwards. However, this revision proved so extensive that the date of publication had to be postponed to the year 1934. In a letter to Marta Feuchtwanger dated 1 December 1933, Zweig wrote from Paris that he was still bogged down in the manuscript of ‘Bilanz’, but also said he expected to finish it if he could work on it as hard at it as his eyes would allow for the next 10 days. (Lion Feuchtwanger – Arnold Zweig, Briefwechsel, 1984)

When the book finally appeared in April 1934, Germany’s situation in foreign affairs had changed markedly: international outrage over Hitler had turned into acceptance, and Zweig’s work failed to trigger the intended impact. Foreign publishers no longer showed much interest. It was not until 1937 that an English translation of Bilanz [Insulted and Exiled: The Truth about the German Jews] appeared in Great Britain.