Kurt Gerron
Encyclopedia
Kurt Gerron was a German
Jewish
actor and film director.
, he initially studied medicine but was called up for military service in World War I
. Seriously wounded he qualified as a military doctor of the German Army
. After the war Gerron turned to a stage career and became a theatre actor under director Max Reinhardt
in 1920. He appeared in secondary roles in several silent film
s and from 1926 also directed film shots. He had his breakthrough starring in such films as The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) opposite Marlene Dietrich
, while on stage he originated the role of "Tiger" Brown in the premiere production of The Threepenny Opera
(Die Dreigroschenoper) at the Berlin Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
in 1928, also singing Mack the Knife
.
After the Machtergreifung
in 1933 Gerron left Nazi Germany
with his wife and parents, traveling first to Paris
and later to Amsterdam
. There, he kept on working as an actor at the Stadsschouwburg
and director in several movies. He was offered employments in Hollywood by the agency of Peter Lorre
and Josef von Sternberg
, but refused several times, one time because his potential employer didn't offer first class tickets, and stayed behind in Europe. After the Wehrmacht
had occupied the Netherlands
, he was interned in the transit camp at Westerbork before being sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp
. There he ran a cabaret called Karussell to entertain the inmates.
In 1944, Gerron was either persuaded or coerced by the Nazis to make a propaganda
film showing how humane the conditions were at Theresienstadt. After shooting finished, Gerron and the members of Jazz pianist Martin Roman
's Ghetto Swingers
were deported on the camp's final transport to Auschwitz
. Gerron was killed immediately upon arrival, Roman and guitarist Coco Schumann
survived. Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
ordered the gas chambers to be closed forever the next day. Gerron's film, supposed to have been titled either Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet
(Terezin: A Documentary Film of the Jewish Resettlement) also known as Der Führer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt (The Führer Gives the Jews a City), was supposedly never completed and exists today only in fragmentary form.
by PBS and Kurt Gerrons Karussell and Tracks to Terezín
with the survivor of the Holocaust Herbert Thomas Mandl
. Mandl talks about Kurt Gerron as the director of the film Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet
. The narrator in Kurt Gerrons Karussell, which stars Ute Lemper
, is Roy Kift
who has also written a play on Gerron's time in Theresienstadt entitled Camp Comedy. The play is published in The Theatre of the Holocaust edited by Professor Robert Skloot and published by the University of Wisconsin Press
.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Jewish
History of the Jews in Germany
The presence of Jews in Germany has been established since the early 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades...
actor and film director.
Life
Born Kurt Gerson into a well-off merchant family in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, he initially studied medicine but was called up for military service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Seriously wounded he qualified as a military doctor of the German Army
German Army (German Empire)
The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...
. After the war Gerron turned to a stage career and became a theatre actor under director Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
in 1920. He appeared in secondary roles in several silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s and from 1926 also directed film shots. He had his breakthrough starring in such films as The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) opposite Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, while on stage he originated the role of "Tiger" Brown in the premiere production of The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
(Die Dreigroschenoper) at the Berlin Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
The Theater am Schiffbauerdamm is a theatre building at the Schiffbauerdamm riverside in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, opened on November 19, 1892. Since 1954 it is home to the Berliner Ensemble theatre company, founded in 1949 by Helene Weigel and Bertolt Brecht.The original name of the...
in 1928, also singing Mack the Knife
Mack the Knife
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the...
.
After the Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
in 1933 Gerron left Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
with his wife and parents, traveling first to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and later to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. There, he kept on working as an actor at the Stadsschouwburg
Stadsschouwburg (Amsterdam)
The Stadsschouwburg of Amsterdam is the name of a theatre building at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The building is in the neo-Renaissance style dating back to 1894, and is the former home of the National Ballet and Opera.-The Rederijkerskamers:The first rederijkers appeared at...
and director in several movies. He was offered employments in Hollywood by the agency of Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
and Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
, but refused several times, one time because his potential employer didn't offer first class tickets, and stayed behind in Europe. After the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
had occupied the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, he was interned in the transit camp at Westerbork before being sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
. There he ran a cabaret called Karussell to entertain the inmates.
In 1944, Gerron was either persuaded or coerced by the Nazis to make a propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
film showing how humane the conditions were at Theresienstadt. After shooting finished, Gerron and the members of Jazz pianist Martin Roman
Martin Roman
Martin Roman was a German jazz pianist.At the time of the Reichstagsbrand in February 1933, Martin was stopped by SS men at the entrance to the huge Vaterland emporium in Berlin, where his band, the Marek Weber Band, was employed. He left for Holland. In January 1944 Roman was transported to Terezín...
's Ghetto Swingers
Ghetto Swingers
The Ghetto Swingers were a jazz band organised in Theresienstadt.The original amateur Czech band playing in the Cafe was led by Eric Vogel and Pavel Lipensky. Vogel petitioned the Kommandant on January 8, 1943. The personnel of The Ghetto Swingers would be Piano: Dr. Brammer, Percussion: Dr. Kurt...
were deported on the camp's final transport to Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. Gerron was killed immediately upon arrival, Roman and guitarist Coco Schumann
Coco Schumann
Heinz Jakob "Coco" Schumann is a German jazz musician.Schumann became passionate about Swing after having heard it during the Berlin Olympics. He was transported first to Theresienstadt, where he became a member of the Ghetto Swingers. Finally he and Martin Roman were transported to Auschwitz,...
survived. Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
ordered the gas chambers to be closed forever the next day. Gerron's film, supposed to have been titled either Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet
Theresienstadt (film)
Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet was a black and white projected Nazi propaganda film shot in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt....
(Terezin: A Documentary Film of the Jewish Resettlement) also known as Der Führer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt (The Führer Gives the Jews a City), was supposedly never completed and exists today only in fragmentary form.
Selected filmography
- VarietéVarietéVariety is a 1925 silent drama film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont based on the novel Der Eid des Stephan Huller by . Jannings portrays "Boss Huller," an ex-trapeze artist who runs a seedy carnival with his wife and child...
(1925) - The White Hell of Pitz PaluThe White Hell of Pitz PaluThe White Hell of Pitz Palu is a 1929 silent mountain film directed by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring future filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and World War I flying ace Ernst Udet.-Plot:...
(1929) - Diary of a Lost GirlDiary of a Lost GirlDiary of a Lost Girl is a 1929 silent film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring the American silent star Louise Brooks. It is shot in black and white, and various versions of the film range from 79 minutes to 116 minutes in length. This was Brooks' second and last film with Pabst, and...
(1929) - People on SundayPeople on SundayPeople on Sunday is a 1930 German silent drama film directed by Curt and Robert Siodmak from a screenplay by Billy Wilder. It follows the lives of a group of residents of Berlin on a summer's day during the interwar period. Hailed as a work of genius, it is a pivotal film not only in the...
(1930) - The Blue Angel (1930)
- Monte Carlo MadnesMonte Carlo MadnesMonte Carlo Madnes is a 1931 German musical comedy film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Hans Albers, Anna Sten and Heinz Rühmann. It is based on the 1930 novel Bomben auf Monte Carlo by Fritz Reck-Malleczewen. A separate English language version Monte Carlo Madness and a French version Le...
(1931)
Documentaries about Gerron
Gerron is the subject of three documentary films, Prisoner of ParadisePrisoner of Paradise
Prisoner of Paradise is a 2003 Canadian documentary film directed by Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender. The film tells the true story of Kurt Gerron, a German-Jewish cabaret and film actor in the 1920s and 1930s who was sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp where he was commanded to write...
by PBS and Kurt Gerrons Karussell and Tracks to Terezín
Tracks to Terezín
"Spuren nach Theresienstadt / Tracks to Terezín" is a film with Herbert Thomas Mandl, a survivor of the Holocaust.-Plot:The composer Pavel Haas makes a bow after the performance of his composition “Study For String Orchestra” conducted by Karel Ančerl at Terezín 1944...
with the survivor of the Holocaust Herbert Thomas Mandl
Herbert Thomas Mandl
Herbert Thomas Mandl was a Czechoslovak-German-Jewish author, concert violinist, professor of music, philosopher, inventor and lecturer...
. Mandl talks about Kurt Gerron as the director of the film Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet
Theresienstadt (film)
Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet was a black and white projected Nazi propaganda film shot in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt....
. The narrator in Kurt Gerrons Karussell, which stars Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
, is Roy Kift
Roy Kift
Roy Kift in Bideford, Devon, is an English writer.- Life :Roy Kift read French and Romance studies at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, graduating with a B.A. in 1964. Between 1965 and 1968 he followed an acting course at the Drama Centre London. This was followed by acting seasons in...
who has also written a play on Gerron's time in Theresienstadt entitled Camp Comedy. The play is published in The Theatre of the Holocaust edited by Professor Robert Skloot and published by the University of Wisconsin Press
University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It primarily publishes work by scholars from the global academic community but also serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and...
.