These verses depict what life was like in the big cities and elsewhere before 1933. They also show how a young man tried to warn through irony, criticism, accusation, mockery, and laughter. Erich Kästner. The first Kästner book published in Germany after the end of World War II is a personal compilation of humorous, biting, and insightful poems from four poetry collections published up to 1932. An impressive document that demonstrates Kästner's keen observation of his time and how he had often predicted the impending disaster.