Ingo Schulze (b. 1962), a writer from the former GDR and president of the Academy of Language and Literature, often addresses the melancholy of Germany's "post-communist" condition in his work. His novel, "The Righteous Killers," became a forum for reflection on the country's epochal changes through the life of Dresden bookseller Norbert Paulini. The book begins as a legend about a celebrated bookseller—an apolitical, educated member of the middle class, to whom the entire intellectual community of East Germany flocks. This idyll is shattered by the fall of the Berlin Wall: gradually, Paulini loses customers, his shop, and his wife; his former detachment from the world beyond the bookstore doors is transformed into radical political views. Schulze masterfully combines elements of philosophical parable and thriller, allegory and social satire, capturing the metamorphoses of the emotional experiences of his compatriots. In his puzzle text, the author invites us to reflect on whether a person who has been at the epicenter of difficult historical events can remain true to his principles.