Alfred Neumeyer
Born on 7 January 1901Died on 21 January 1973WriterAlfred Neumeyer, who later completed a doctorate in art history, felt a calling as an author during his youth. In the beginning he felt drawn to both fields in which he had talents and devoted himself to them in parallel: In 1931 he started work as a private tutor for art history in Berlin.
Felix Nussbaum
Born on 11 December 1904Died on 2 August 1944PainterThrough art, Felix Nussbaum assured himself of his identity, which had been repeatedly thrown into question for him through his years of exile. He dealt with the experiences of losing his homeland and persecution directly in his pictures.
Max Ophüls
Born on 6 May 1902Died on 26 March 1957Actor, Theater director, Film directorSaarbrücken-born Max Ophüls was regarded as a poet among directors on the strength of his sensitive literary adaptations. He began his career as a 19 year-old theatre actor and gained experience in directing and in broadcasting from an early stage.
Gerhard Ortinau
Born on 18 March 1953WriterGerhard Ortinau was a part of the Romanian-German minority and grew up in the Banat. He was born in the Baragan steppe in southeastern Romania, to which his parents had been deported in 1951.
Emine Sevgi Özdamar
Born 10. August 1946Writer, Actress, Theater directorEmine Sevgi Özdamar grew up in various places in Turkey and attended drama school in Istanbul between 1967 and 1970. Following the military coup in 1971, she was able to continue working as an actress in Turkey until 1976 despite her membership of the Turkish workers’ party.
Oskar Pastior
Born on 20 October 1927Died on 4 October 2006WriterThe experimental poet Oskar Pastior belonged to the German minority in the Romanian Hermannstadt (Sibiu). In January 1945, the then 17-year-old student was kidnapped and taken to a Russian labour camp, where he survived hunger, cold, disease and hard labour.
Richard Paulick
Born on 7 November 1903Died on 4 March 1979 in Berlin, GDRArchitectIn June 1933, architect Richard Paulick reached Shanghai, where he would spend the next sixteen years of his life. He had already been able to gather his first experiences of modern, rational and experimental architecture during his studies under Hans Poelzig, as well as in the architectural bureau of Walter Gropius and in his cooperation with Georg Muche in the design the Steel House in Dessau.
Leo Perutz
Bestselling author in Vienna, almost forgotten in Tel AvivBorn on 2 November 1882Died on 25 August 1957WriterLeo Perutz was one of the most popular German-language novelists in the period between the World Wars and already published his first literary works while still a trainee actuary. His circle of friends in Vienna included Franz Werfel, Alfred Polgar, Richard A. Bermann and Rudolf Olden.
Jacob (also: Jakob) Picard
Chronicler of rural German Jews Born on 11 January 1883Died on 1 October 1967WriterJacob Picard, a lawyer with a doctorate, is regarded as the chronicler of rural German Jews on account of his literary works. He was born in 1883 as the son of Jewish parents in Wangen on the Höri peninsula of Lake Constance where ostracised artists such as Otto Dix or Max Ackermann went into "inner emigration" during the Nazi dictatorship in Germany.
Erwin Piscator
Born on 17 December 1893Died on 30 March 1966Theater director, Film directorAs a producer in the theatres of Berlin, Erwin Piscator made intensive use of materials. He used large iron structures, projected films or motorised bridges.
