Skip to main content

The Last Veit Simons from Berlin

Holocaust, Gender, and the End of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie: Book Presentation (video recording available, in German)

In their book Die letzten Berliner Veit Simons: Holocaust, Geschlecht und das Ende des deutsch-jüdischen Bürgertums (The Last Veit Simons from Berlin: Holocaust, Gender, and the End of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie), historians Anna Hájková and Maria von der Heydt trace the lives of one of Berlin’s oldest and best-known Jewish families in a transnational story of class, gender, and sexuality.

recording available

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The W. M. Blumenthal Academy is marked in green

Where

W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)

Video recording of the book presentation from 11 December 2019 (in German); Jewish Museum Berlin, 2019

Through the example of the last bourgeois Veit Simon, his non-Jewish wife, and their six children, the authors show how Nazi mass murder destroyed first the future prospects, then the social environment, the livelihoods, and ultimately their very existence. They range from the Jewish Council in Amsterdam to the drawing workshop in Theresienstadt, from going underground in Berlin to difficult new beginnings after the war. In particular, the story of the surviving daughter Etta, her special ability to adapt and survive in the horror of the ghetto, illustrates women’s options for action in genocide.

A cooperation with Hentrich & Hentrich Publishers

Black and white photograph of a couple with a bouquet of flowers and a veil,  a yellow badge on his jacket.

Wedding photo of Sabine Smuk and Rolf Veit Simon, 1942; Collection Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam

Where, when, what?

  • WhenWednesday 11 December 2019, 7 pm
  • Where W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
    Klaus Mangold Auditorium
    Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
    (Opposite the Museum)
    See location on map

Video Recordings: Watch Past Museum Events (75)

Share, Newsletter, Feedback