Bobby John

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Robert "Bobby" John (born June 11, 1905 in Vienna ; died June 11, 1966 in Bensberg , Germany ) was an Austrian cabaret artist .

Live and act

Little is known about Robert John's origins and early activities. Presumably he worked on various cabaret stages in Vienna in the 1920s and 1930s. On September 25, 1942, he was deported from Vienna via Munich to the Theresienstadt ghetto . There he took part in artistic events such as the Hofer cabaret , where he also wrote his own texts on sketches and songs (e.g. " Goodbye, Mr. Fröhlich "). On September 28, 1944, John was transferred to the Auschwitz extermination camp , where he only stayed for a short time. Finally, the camp administration deported him to the Kaufering VI subcamp . According to witnesses, John is said to have been used as a kapo here. In April 1945 he was liberated there.

Bobby John, based in Munich since the end of July 1945, founded the cabaret theater “Der Bunte Würfel” with Viktor Hahn, another concentration camp survivor from Theresienstadt, where he also appeared as a cabaret artist and authorized signatory. The premiere of the first program "Munich learns to laugh again!" Took place on January 16, 1946. Among the participants were Claire Waldoff , Peter Igelhoff and the still very slim Gert Fröbe . In 1947, Bobby John also performed on the side of the already quite ill Karl Valentin and his long-time sketch partner Liesl Karlstadt . At the beginning of April 1958, John moved to Cologne.

literature

  • Kay Less : Between the stage and the barracks. Lexicon of persecuted theater, film and music artists from 1933 to 1945 . With a foreword by Paul Spiegel . Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-10-9 , p. 394.

WeblinkS

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beate Meyer: Fritz Benscher: A Holocaust Survivor as a Radio and TV Star in the Federal Republic . Wallstein, 2017, ISBN 978-3-8353-3001-6 , mention of "Bobby John" in books.google.de
personal data
SURNAME John, Bobby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES John, Robert (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian cabaret artist, actor and entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 1966
Place of death Bensberg