Artists Under Hitler: Collaboration and Survival in Nazi Germany

by Jonathan Petropoulos

A penetrating inquiry into the motives, moral dilemmas, and compromises of Walter Gropius, Emil Nolde, and other celebrated artists who chose to remain in Nazi Germany

“What are we to make of those cultural figures, many with significant international reputations, who tried to find accommodation with the Nazi regime?” Jonathan Petropoulos asks in this exploration of some of the most acute moral questions of the Third Reich. In his nuanced analysis of prominent German artists, architects, composers, film directors, painters, and writers who rejected exile, choosing instead to stay during Germany’s darkest period, Petropoulos shows how individuals variously dealt with the regime’s public opposition to modern art. His findings explode the myth that all modern artists were anti-Nazi and all Nazis anti-modernist.
 
Artists Under Hitler closely examines cases of artists who failed in their attempts to find accommodation with the Nazi regime (Walter Gropius, Paul Hindemith, Gottfried Benn, Ernst Barlach, Emil Nolde) as well as others whose desire for official acceptance was realized (Richard Strauss, Gustaf Gründgens, Leni Riefenstahl, Arno Breker, Albert Speer). Collectively these ten figures illuminate the complex cultural history of Nazi Germany, while individually they provide haunting portraits of people facing excruciating choices and grave moral questions.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, World War II, Music, Germany

424 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2014

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have admired all the books I have read by Mr. Petropoulos, particularly because of his extensive research which means that whatever he writes is backed by more than supposition. He refuses to accept pieties and simplistic or self-serving narratives. By engaging with the complex realities of the times he writes about and helps the reader to understand, and certainly to appreciate, how difficult it was for the artists under consideration to know what the right thing to do was. Although in retrospect the path of exile, chosen, has been understood as the first choice of all the 'great' artists. For those who believe it may come as something of a shock to see various Mies van der Rohe drawings submitted for Nazi party building projects. In his case it was the Nazis refusal to employ him rather than his refusal to work for them that led his very successful and profitable exile.*

It is marvellous, fifty or more years later with the benefit not just of hind sight but the knowledge of just how brief Nazi rule was going to be, to pontificate about what others should have done.

In this book Petropoulos looks at the prominent German artists, architects, composers, film directors, painters, and writers who rejected exile, and chose to stay during Germany’s darkest period. He shows how individuals variously dealt with the regime’s public opposition to modern art. His findings explode the myth that all modern artists were anti-Nazi and all Nazis anti-modernist. This is the most rewarding part of the book, Petropoulos's subtlety and refusal to be drawn into snap or cliched views allows the reader to understand how difficult choices were. Plenty who later were stars of German emigration from Hitler attempted to stay and work for the Nazis. Understanding how to respond to a regime that you disagree with is never as easy as it seems in retrospect. Making the right decisions is difficult and those Germans opposed to the Nazis also had the difficulty of finding somewhere else to go to. Refugees were no more popular, or welcome, in the 1930's then they are now.

First rate book and even if you aren't really sure if this subject is for you I strongly recommend giving it a try. Petropoulos is an excellent writer and manages varied and complex topics with ease.

*Although not an artist Kurt Hahn founder of Gordonstoun (alma mater of the late Prince Phillip, the current king and his brothers) was always held up as a principled resister against Nazi infiltration of the school he was headmaster of in Germany. That he was quite willing to work with the Nazis and it was their refusal to have him as a collaborator that sent him to exile is only rarely acknowledged.

[Erica Char · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish.



Interesting idea, but way too dense for me.

[Anders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly gradually more interesting the further I read. Interesting angles and weird personal dynamics in the most pressured, mercurially earratic period.