|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/7/2009
Posts: 33,677
Neurons: 100,209
Location: Inside Farlex computers
|
 Zarah Leander (1907)Leander was a Swedish actress and singer. As a contracted performer with Germany's principal film studio, Leander made a number of successful films that contributed to the Third Reich's propaganda. Though Leander did not take part in official Nazi party functions, her association with Nazism caused her to be shunned in Sweden after the war. She resumed acting but never regained the popularity she had enjoyed before. Why did Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels dub her an "Enemy of Germany"? More...
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/21/2012
Posts: 4,668
Neurons: 22,062
|
If you are interested in this matter, I can highly recommend:
Tainted Goddesses Female Film Stars of the Third Reich by Cinzia Romani.
It is full of fascinating photographs.
In the "Foreword," Mr. Richard Hottelet advises us not to think too badly of those stars who agreed to play in Nazi movies. He writes that "Many or most were simple careerists with the normal quantum of cowardice."
He also reminds us that some German actors fled Germany or withdrew from the film industry.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/23/2011
Posts: 567
Neurons: 170,308
Location: Orillia, Ontario, Canada
|
At a party she met the Nazi minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, who asked her ironically: "Zarah... Isn't this a Jewish name?" "Oh, maybe" the actress told "but what about Josef?" "Hmmm... yes, yes, a good answer" Goebbels replied.[2]
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 12/26/2010
Posts: 538
Neurons: 23,973
Location: Hebron, Connecticut, United States
|
Because Zarah Leander opted for financial success by remaining in the Nazi film industry, does that make her a Nazi sympathizer or just a financial opportunist?
I don’t know how to question that question. Money has always trumped other considerations and she did have two children to support.
It seems, on her side of the equation, that she was not a Nazi sympathizer. Zarah even stood up to Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels when he asked her “isn’t Zarah a Jewish Name?” to which she retorted, “Isn’t Joseph a Jewish name?” Joseph was a very powerful man who could have ended her career at any time. To me that retort speaks to courage.
|
|
Rank: Member
Joined: 1/26/2014
Posts: 309
Neurons: 11,475
Location: Steubenville, Ohio, United States
|
No different than Hollywood today trumpeting the causes of Washington or other political interests. Seems to me politics and entertainment have always been bedfellows. Kind of a win/win. If she refused to work, she would've been a hero who stood on principle. But she chose to work to support her family.
|
|
|
Guest |