Veit Harlan
| Veit Harlan | |
|---|---|
Harlan (right) with the widow of Ferdinand Marian, at Harlan's court case in 1948
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| Born |
22 September 1899 Berlin, German Empire |
| Died | 13 April 1964 (aged 64) Capri, Italy |
| Nationality | German |
Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor.
Harlan was born in Berlin. After studying under Max Reinhardt, he first appeared on the stage in 1915 and, after World War I, worked in the Berlin stage. In 1922 he married Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson; the couple divorced in 1924. Gerson later died at Auschwitz with her family. In 1929, he married Hilde Körber, having three children with her before divorcing her for political reasons related to the influence of National Socialism. One of their children, Thomas Harlan, became a writer and director in his own right. Afterwards, he married the Swedish actress Kristina Söderbaum, for whom he wrote several tragic roles which included some very dramatic suicide scenes, further increasing their popularity with the German cinema audience.
Film critic David Thomson asserts that Harlan, having just started directing in 1935, was only able to attract Goebbels' attention because so much directorial talent had emigrated from Germany after the Nazis had taken power. By 1937, Joseph Goebbels had appointed Harlan as one of his leading propaganda directors. His most notorious film was Jud Süß (1940), which was made for anti-Semitic propaganda purposes in Germany and Austria. In 1943 it received UFA's highest awards. Karsten Witte, the film critic, provided a fitting appellation for Harlan calling him "the baroque fascist". Harlan made the Reich's loudest, most colorful and expensive films.
After the war Harlan was charged with participating in the anti-Semitic movement and aiding the Nazis. But he successfully defended himself by arguing that the Nazis controlled his work and that he should not be held personally responsible for its content. In 1949, Harlan was charged with crimes against humanity for his role as director of Jud Süß. The Hamburg Criminal Chamber of the Regional Court (Schwurgericht) acquitted Harlan of the charges; however, the court of the British occupation zone nullified the acquittal.
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