Helmuth Kionka

Helmuth Kionka , also Helmut Kionka , (born November 10, 1906 in Breslau , Silesia , † September 28, 1936 in Berlin ) was a German actor , author , resistance fighter and a victim of National Socialism .

Life

Born in Silesia, he first tried his hand at writing as an author and journalist and worked briefly as a bookseller .

In the mid-1920s he received his artistic training in Berlin and began his first engagement there in 1926. With the leading role in Das Erbe von Quirlitz , the dark-haired young actor was given his first central role. In the following years, Kionka appeared on various stages in the capital, including the State Theater , the German Art Theater , the Theater am Kurfürstendamm and the Saltenburg stages .

His role repertoire included appearances in Lion Feuchtwanger's Die Petroleuminseln , Carl Zuckmayer's Katharina Knie , Pottasch and Perlmutter and in the comedy Vater sein sein .

Kionka also worked several times with some of the top directors of the time: in 1928 he was seen in Max Reinhardt's staging of Comedy Artists , three years later under Gustaf Gründgens ' direction in Marcellus Schiffer's Alles Schwindel .

Almost at the same time, the good-looking young mime was also offered tiny roles in the (still silent) film. After a few sound films, along with the takeover of power by the National Socialists , Kionka's career was effectively over.

Activity in resistance, arrest and execution

At the time of National Socialism , he was involved in the resistance and acted as a courier between resistance groups active in the German Reich and abroad. In April 1934 Kionka left his domicile in Berlin-Schöneberg and went to Vienna , and in mid-May of the same year he traveled on to Zurich . Finally, Kionka made contact with anti-fascist groups in Paris .

When his activities in Berlin were exposed, he was lured in the spring of 1936 - presumably with the help of the then friend of the actress Trude Hesterberg and presumed Gestapo agent Dr. Fritz Schönherr - back to the German capital with a fake offer for the Dietrich Eckart stage that had just been founded.

Upon his arrival in Germany, Kionka was immediately arrested, charged with treason and sentenced to death in May 1936. The artist and resistance fighter was executed about seven weeks before his 30th birthday.

Filmography

• 1928: The fourth from the right
• 1928: The most beautiful woman in Paris
• 1932: Eight girls in the boat
• 1932: The invisible front
• 1933: love spring

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, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-10-9 , p. 204.
• Kay Less: 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 636

Web links

• Helmuth Kionka at filmportal.de
• Helmuth Kionka in the Internet Movie Database (English)