William Schoenland

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William Schönland (born December 23, 1915 in Berlin ; † July 27, 2011 in Amstelveen , Netherlands ) was a German-Dutch film businessman and filmmaker.

Live and act

Schönland joined the film industry in 1932 through the director Carl Wilhelm . He started his professional career as a sound assistant . In 1936, although a Jew, he took part in the Olympic Games in his hometown as a Jiu Jitsu fighter . Before he could be arrested, Schönland went into hiding with forged UFA papers and fled to the Netherlands. Here he made it possible for other persecuted Jews to escape from Hitler's Germany with specially forged identity papers . Schönland appeared as a collaborator with Kurt Gerron in Dutch film .

During the Second World War , William Schönland worked underground , but joined his Jewish wife when she was interned in the Dutch Nazi transit camp Westerbork . In 1942, the Schönlands managed to escape from Westerbork with forged papers again. After the liberation in 1945, Schönland remained in the Netherlands, where he accepted citizenship there and helped the Dutch secret service in the hunt for Nazi criminals. In addition, Schönland worked as head of production for Hadeko-Film. Until the early 21st century, William Schönland kept returning to Germany for educational trips about Nazi barbarism in Europe.

literature

  • 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. 606.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Niceland, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Dutch film salesman and filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 2011
Place of death Amstelveen , Netherlands