Leo Straus
Leo (pold) Straus (s) (born January 21, 1897 in Teplitz-Schönau , Austria-Hungary , † October 28, 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp ) was an Austrian cabaret artist and dramaturge.
Life
Leo Straus was the second son of the composer Oscar Straus from his first marriage to the violinist and concertmaster Helene Neumann (Nelly Irmen). Two other brothers, the composer Erwin Straus (1910–1966) and the writer and director Walter Straus (1913–1945), came from the father's second marriage to the singer Clara Singer. Oscar Straus had changed his family name Strauss because of the possibility of confusion with the Strauss family of musicians .
Straus began studying law at the University of Vienna in 1915 and received his doctorate in 1920 . He initially worked in banking and in the second half of the 1920s he worked as a dramaturge and administrative director at the Wiener Kammerspiele . From 1929 to 1931 he worked as deputy director and dramaturge at the Neues Wiener Schauspielhaus . Straus wrote the texts for various revues, such as the 1932 libretto for Der tanzende Shylock: Revue at any price by his brother Erwin Straus. He was married to Myra Gruhenberg (1900-1944) (also: Mira Grünberg). Short stories by her have been published in the Wiener Zeitung and the Prager Tagblatt , radio plays on the Copenhagen radio and pieces that were performed in Amsterdam and Prague , although it is unclear what part Leo Straus played in them. The Reich German audience was denied them since the handover of power to the National Socialists in 1933.
When Austria was annexed to the German Reich in 1938, both were relieved of their functions as Jews and were banned from working.
Straus and his wife were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto on October 1, 1942 . Both were integrated into the cultural camp life there, and he acted as the master of his cabaret program Straus-Brettl , in which his composition Die Stadt Als-Ob was performed.
Straus was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on October 12, 1944 , and killed there. Myra Gruhenberg was also murdered in Auschwitz.
Work (selection)
- A delightful person. Musical comedy in 3 acts . Original (Un homme exquis) by Jean de Létraz , translated by Berth Ebelsbacher , lyrics by Leo and Erwin Straus, 1931
- Erwin Straus: The dancing Shylock. Revue at any price in 2 parts . Libretto by Leo Straus, based on a sketch by Géza Herczeg , 1932
literature
- E. Offenthaler: Straus (s) Leo (pold). In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 13, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2007–2010, ISBN 978-3-7001-6963-5 , p. 373.
- 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. 418.
- Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century . Volume 3: S – Z, Register. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 1339.
- Volker Kühn : Cabaret pieces - cabaret library in five volumes . Volume 3: Germany's Awakening - Cabaret under the swastika. 1933-1945 , Quadriga, Weinheim / Berlin, 1987, pp. 273f.
Web links
- Literature by and about Leo Straus in the catalog of the German National Library
- Cabaret Terezin (fr; PDF; 1.5 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information according to ÖBL. Name Strauss, place of birth Vienna and date of death December 12, 1944, see entry in the Handbook of Austrian Authors
- ↑ Further children from the marriage of Oscar Straus and Nelly Irmen: Louis (1895); Katharina (Kitty, 1898)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Straus, Leo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Straus, Leopold; Strauss, Leo; Strauss, Leopold |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 21, 1897 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Teplitz-Schönau |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 28, 1944 |
| Place of death | Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp |