Persecuted artists

On 27 January 1945, the survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp were liberated by Soviet troops. Around one million people had been cruelly tortured and murdered here because they did not conform to an ideology based on racial mania or because they had resisted the National Socialists. Since 1996, the University and the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald have dedicated special attention to 27 January. This year's event commemorates the persecuted artists during the National Socialist era.

National Socialism did not regard art and culture as autonomous, but expected them to be subordinate to its ideology. The synchronisation of the art and culture scene in the Reich Chamber of Culture under Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels served this purpose. Modern art and cultural trends that were perceived as "un-German" and "degenerate" were rejected. Artists whose works contradicted the National Socialist understanding of culture, who were politically undesirable or not of "Aryan" descent, were removed from public office, were no longer allowed to practise their profession, some were forced to emigrate or were violently persecuted and murdered. We would like to remember the suffering of these women and men this year.

As part of the commemorative event, Dr Meike Hoffmann and Prof. Dr Kilian Heck will focus on the fates of artists during the Nazi regime:

Dr Meike Hoffemann (Free University of Berlin):
Ostracised - persecuted - forgotten. Fates of avant-garde artists during the Nazi regime

Kilian Heck (University of Greifswald)
"Don't forget us" - Jewish biographies in the Hiddenseer Künstlerinnenbund between awakening and annihilation

The musical programme will be provided by the Greifswald Music School.