Address unknown

Kressmann Taylors Briefnovelle von 1938 lässt eine Freundschaft zwischen zwei deutschamerikanischen Kunsthändlern, Max Eisenstein und Martin Schulze, darüber zerbrechen, dass Martin Ende 1932 nach München geht und schon 1934 am Tod der Schwester seines Freundes mitschuldig wird, weil er der Verführung durch die "Nationale Bewegung" erliegt.
Die Aufführung der deutschen Theaterversion, "Empfänger unbekannt", die ich sah, erleichterte das Verständnis für die an sich etwas unglaubhafte Offenheit, mit der Martin seinem jüdischen Freund Max seine Faszination durch Hitler berichtet, dadurch, dass diese Passagen so übersteigert vorgetragen wurden, dass man sich in eine Naziveranstaltung hineinversetzt fühlte, die mit ihrem Sog individuelle Widerstände hinweg spülte.

Die englische Wikipedia schreibt über den Schluss:
"After a gap of about a month, Max starts writing to Martin at home, carrying only what looks like business and remarks about the weather, but writing as though they have a hidden encoded meaning, with strange references to exact dimensions of pictures and so on. The letters refer to "our grandmother" and imply that Martin is also Jewish. The letters from Munich to San Francisco get shorter and more panicky, begging Max to stop: "My God, Max, do you know what you do? ... These letters you have sent ... are not delivered, but they bring me in and ... demand I give them the code ... I beg you, Max, no more, no more! Stop while I can be saved."

Max however continues, "Prepare these for distribution by March 24th: Rubens 12 by 77, blue; Giotto 1 by 317, green and white; Poussin 20 by 90, red and white." The letter is returned to Max, stamped: Adressat unbekannt. Addressee Unknown. (The title of the book is actually a mistranslation of Adressat unbekannt: The correct translation of "Adressat" is "addressee," not "address"; which is much more in keeping with the plot of the story.)

The book's afterword, lovingly written by Taylor's son, reveals that the idea for the story came from a small news article: American students in Germany wrote home with the truth about the Nazi atrocities, a truth most Americans, including Charles Lindbergh, would not accept. Fraternity brothers thought it would be funny to send them letters making fun of Hitler, and the visiting students wrote back, "Stop it. We’re in danger. These people don’t fool around. You could murder [someone] by writing letters to him." Thus emerged the idea of "letter as weapon" or "murder by mail."
(Kathrine Taylor - (Hervorhebung in Schrägdruck durch Fontanefan)