Arno Surminski
Arno Surminski (born 20 August 1934 in Jäglack, East Prussia) is a German writer, living in Hamburg, a father of three and a grandfather of 8. After growing up in East Prussia, his parents were deported to the Soviet Union, while he was expelled to Schleswig-Holstein. Having finished his school education there, he was apprenticed to a lawyer from 1950-1953. He lived in Canada from 1957 to 1960, but then came back to Germany, where he worked for an insurance company from 1962 until 1972. Since 1972, apart from writing, he has been working as a  journalist, specialising in economy and insurance. His fame is mainly due to his novels, the principal themes of which are his recollections of a happy childhood and the fate of the deportees; he has no interest however in revenge, but only wants to preserve his childhood memories. Several of his books were used for TV productions. Since 2001, he has been working as an ombudsman in the field of health insurance.