The 25Th Hour

London Uk: William Heinemann, 1950. First English Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. Xii, 373 Pp. Red Cloth, Gilt. First English Language Printing (Originally Written In Romanian But First Published In French). Near Fine, Gilt Brilliant. Dust Jacket Priced 10S6d, Some Wear With Small Losses At Corners. Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu (1916-1992) Was A Romanian Writer, Best Known For His 1949 Novel, The 25Th Hour, First Published By Plon In France. Virgil Gheorghiu Was Born In Valea Alba, A Village In Razboieni Commune, Neam? County, In Romania. His Father Was An Orthodox Priest In Petricani. A Top Student, He Attended High School In Chi?inau (Now The Capital Of Moldova] From 1928 To June 1936, After Which He Studied Philosophy And Theology At The University Of Bucharest And At Heidelberg University. He Traveled And Stayed In Saudi Arabia To Learn The Arabic Language And The Arab Culture, Before Writing The Biography Of Prophet Muhammad. Between 1942 And 1943, During The Regime Of General Ion Antonescu, Gheorghiu Served In The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Of Romania As An Embassy Secretary. He Went Into Exile When Soviet Troops Entered Romania In August 1944. Arrested At The End Of World War Ii By American Troops, He Eventually Settled In France In 1948. A Year Later, He Published The Novel Ora 25 (In French: La Vingt-Cinquième Heure; In English: The Twenty-Fifth Hour, First Time Published In Romania By Editura Omegapres, Bucharest, 1991, ), Written During His Captivity. Gheorghiu Was Ordained A Priest Of The Romanian Orthodox Church In Paris On May 23, 1963. Gheorghiu's Best-Known Book Depicts The Plight Of A Naive Romanian Young Farmhand, Johann Moritz, Under German, Soviet And American Occupation Of Central Europe. Johann Is Sent To A Labor Camp By A Police Captain Who Covets His Wife, Suzanna. At First, He Is Tagged As "Jacob Moritz", A Jew. Then, He And Fellow Jewish Prisoners Escape To Hungary, Where He Is Interned As A Citizen Of An Enemy Country. The Hungarian Government Sends Its Foreign Residents As Hungarian "Voluntary Workers To Nazi Germany". Later, "Moritz Ianos" Is "Rescued" By A Nazi Officer Who Determines He Is A Perfect Aryan Specimen, And Forces Him Into Service In The Waffen Ss As A Model For German Propaganda. Imprisoned After The War, He Is Severely Beaten By His Russian Captors, Then Put On Trial By Allied Forces Because Of His Work For The Nazis. Meanwhile, Traian, Son Of The Priest Koruga Who Employed Moritz In Their Romanian Village, Is A Famous Novelist And Minor Diplomat Whose First Internment Comes When He Is Picked Up As An Enemy Alien By The Yugoslavs. Once Imprisoned, The Two Heroes Begin An Odyssey Of Torture And Despair. Traian Koruga Is Deeply Unsettled Because What He Sees As The Machinism And Inhumanity Of The "Western Technical Society", Where Individuals Are Treated As Members Of A Category. Meanwhile, Koruga Is Writing A Writing A Book, "The 25Th Hour", About Johann Moritz And The Ordeal Awaiting Mankind. In The End, Traian Takes His Own Life In An American-Polish Concentration Camp, While Johann Is Forced By The Americans To Choose Between Either Enlisting In The Army, Just As World War Iii Is About To Start, Or To Be Interned In A Camp (As Well As His Family) As A Citizen From An Enemy Country. In 1967, Carlo Ponti Produced A Film Based On Gheorghiu's Book. The Movie Was Directed By Henri Verneuil, With Anthony Quinn As Johann, Virna Lisi As Suzanna, And Serge Reggiani As Traian.