Gerhard Schoenberner

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Berlin memorial plaque on the house, Selmaplatz 5, in Berlin-Zehlendorf

Gerhard Schoenberner (born May 24, 1931 in Neudamm, Brandenburg , today Dębno , Poland ; † December 10, 2012 in Berlin ) was a German author , film historian and pioneer of the public discussion of the crimes during the National Socialist era . He himself described the threat of dictatorship and war as a formative influence of his childhood.

Life

Gerhard Schoenberner was the son of a pastor and nephew of the writer Franz Schoenberner . He attended high school in Küstrin and passed his Abitur in Berlin in 1949. He studied political science in evening classes and German and theater studies at the Free University of Berlin . In 1956 he married Mirjana (Mira) Bihaly, whose uncle Paul Bihaly had published a literary magazine in Belgrade from 1928 and published the latest contemporary literature in Serbian in the progressive literature publisher NOLIT . Paul was arrested and murdered in 1941. Mira Schoenberner was the most important contributor to Gerhard Schoenberner's publications.

Act

Gerhard Schoenberner held numerous functions; Many initiatives go back to him: From 1973 to 1978 he was director of the Goethe Institute in Tel Aviv, which at that time was still called the “German Cultural Center”. He was a member of the Voluntary Self-Control of the Film Industry (FSK) and, as a representative of the public sector, opposed the weakening of its democratic principles during the Cold War. As a jury member of the various selection commissions of the Federal Film Funding and jury chairman of the “Young German Film” board of trustees of the federal states, he pushed through the promotion of the so-called new German film. Together with the film historian Ulrich Gregor , he was responsible for setting up the “International Forum”, the alternative second main program of the Berlin Film Festival . Schoenberner was a curator of large series of films at home and abroad and a consultant for foreign film festivals.

Since 1976 Schoenberner was a member of the West German PEN center ; from 1991 to 1995 he was Vice President and representative of the Writers in Prison initiative . On behalf of the Goethe Institute , he gave lectures and seminars on film history and the use of film as a means of political propaganda at numerous universities abroad. In 1983, Schoenberner was the founding chairman of the Active Museum Citizens' Initiative - Fascism and Resistance in Berlin ; As a member of the specialist commission of the Berlin Senate, he was co-initiator of the " Topography of Terror " memorial, which was later built . The rededication of the so-called Wannsee Villa to the “House of the Wannsee Conference ” memorial is partly due to his commitment. He was its founding commissioner and first director from 1989 to 1996. In 1992 the exhibition “The Persecution of Jews 1933–1945”, which he designed, was opened.

Schoenberner is the author of numerous books, documentaries, exhibitions and films. One of his most important works is the book The Yellow Star , published in 1960 and published in several translations and new editions . The persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933–1945 . In addition to the books by Joseph Wulf , which were published at the same time, it was one of the first well-founded historical documentation of the persecution of Jews during National Socialism and is still considered a standard work today. 1980 was under the direction of Dieter Hildebrandt filmed . In 1969 Schoenberner produced the twelve-part series “ Film in the Third Reich ” for ARD .

His last publication Conclusion. Prose poems were discussed with great enthusiasm:

“I am not aware of any literature in German, be it poem or prose, that is comparable to Schoenberner's poems. Comparable in the rigor and accuracy of the communication of what Germany accomplished in the 20th century. [...] Schoenberer's tone seems as if it couldn't be otherwise. […] The cruelest processes appear to be the most obvious. [...] So it happened. It just needs to be established. It is always the thing itself that is expressed. Without literary attitude. And yet it is pure literature. Schoenberner's solemn firmness reminds me of Hölderlin. Is there still a poet whose poems are so clearly drawn from history? [...] You can't shoot everyone , that remains a shout from someone who has remained more alert than us. And for reasons that are our story. "

- Martin Walser : Die Zeit 26/2012

“A political publicist as a poet: that leads to fear of the worst. What is at hand with the poems of Gerhard Schoenberner, however, is the very best - perfectly rhythmic logs of social upheavals such as psychological shocks. I can only congratulate you. "

- Fritz J. Raddatz

In the poem Light Baggage he travels with rusty scissors from A, a shard of brick from Les Milles, a burned-up tile from Küstrin, certainties and doubts, and last but not least, light baggage.

Awards

In 1993 Schoenberner was the first German to be honored for his work with the award named after Leo Eitinger from the University of Oslo for special commitment in the field of human rights . In 2002 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin . The political and social sciences department at the university explained that Schoenberner was one of the pioneers in the public discussion of the crimes during National Socialism.

Works

  • Gleanings. Texts on politics and culture. Argument Verlag, Hamburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-86754-405-4 .
  • Joseph Wulf, educator about the Nazi state - initiator of the House of the Wannsee Conference memorial. Jewish miniatures vol. 39, Verlag Hentrich and Hentrich, Berlin 2012
  • Conclusion. Prose poems Argument-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, Dt. Orig. Edition, ISBN 978-3-88619-488-9 .
  • Schoenberner, Gerhard (preface): Franz Schoenberner / Hermann Kesten: Correspondence in exile 1933–1945. Published by Frank Berninger, Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2008
  • Permanent tentoonstelling / Gedenkplaats Huis va de Wannseeconferentie. [Berlin]: Ed. Hentrich, [1998], Nederlandstallige versie
  • Permanent exhibition / Memorial House of the Wannsee Conference. [Berlin]: Ed. Hentrich, [1996]
  • Schoenberner, Gerhard and Hanno Loewy (editor): 'Our only way is work.' The ghetto in Lodz 1940–1944. Vienna: Publisher: Löcker, 1990
  • Witnesses testify. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Club, [1983]
  • Schoenberner, Gerhard and Ursula Seifried: Foreigners among us. A film catalog. The Senator for Labor u. Companies, Berlin and Die Freunde d. German Kinemathek eV, Berlin 1982
  • Schoenberner, Gerhard (Red. D. German version): The unholy alliance: Stalin's correspondence with Churchill 1941–1945. With e. Inlet u. Erl. To the text by Manfred Rexin. [Trans. from d. Engl. And from d. Russ.], Reinbek b. Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1964 [1. - 8th thousand]
  • We saw it. Hamburg: Rütten & Loening, 1962
  • The yellow star. Hamburg: Rütten & Loening, 1960
  • Editor: Artists against Hitler. Bonn: Inter Nationes, 1984
  • The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe, 1933-1945 . New York: Fordham University Press, 2004

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Schoenberner  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b December 17, 2012 in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
  2. ↑ Gerhard Schoenberner: The case of Paul B. A hostage shooting in occupied Belgrade in 1941. In: Helge Grabitz et al. (Ed.): The normality of crime. Balance sheet and perspectives of research on the national socialist violent crimes. Berlin 1994, pp. 186-200.
  3. ↑ Martin Walser: You can't shoot everyone. In: Zeit Online. July 2, 2012, accessed December 17, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Reviews on conclusion . (No longer available online.) In: Argument Verlag. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013 ; Retrieved December 17, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.argument.de
  5. ↑ Eitinger Prize awarded. In: New Germany. February 5, 1994, accessed December 17, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Icebreaker. In: Tagesspiegel. April 12, 2002, accessed December 17, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Schoenberner, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Šenberner, Gerchard (Russian form of name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author, film historian and pioneer in the public discussion of the crimes during the Nazi era
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Neudamm (Neumark)
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 2012
Place of death Berlin