Collage in gray-blue on an orange background with a blue zigzag line: the head of a man in a diving bell, his hand holding a hose, next to it a manometer.

CATASTROPHE. ACTION FROM THE UNDERGROUND

Tour of the Exhibition “My Verses are Like Dynamite.” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret

The tour connects the exhibition “My Verses are Like Dynamite.” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret” with the core exhibition epoch room Catastrophe.

9 Feb to 26 May 2024, by appointment

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin

Where

Jewish Museum Berlin
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Where, when, what?

Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime enacted hundreds of measures targeting Jews. These are printed on giant banners that hang from the ceiling of the core exhibition, creating an installation that lets the extent and perfidiousness of state-sanctioned antisemitism be spatially experienced.

For Curt Bloch, the 1933 Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service marked the end of his career as an attorney in Germany. He emigrated to the Netherlands, where he went underground in May 1940 following the German occupation. From his hiding place in Enschede, he created a unique work of creative resistance: Week by week, from August 1943 to April 1945, he put together a magazine featuring handwritten poems that dealt with Nazi propaganda as well as other themes: “Het Onderwater Cabaret.”

This tour examines the impact of the National Socialists’ anti-Jewish policies on Jews in Germany, as well as the potential for Jews in the Netherlands to take action.

Collage with writing: Doktor Göbbels Mummenschanz. The picture shows a figure in a Nazi military uniform with the head of a lion. — Het Onderwater-Cabaret from Jan 15, 1944; Jewish Museum Berlin, Konvolut/816, Curt Bloch Collection, on loan from the Charities Aid Foundation America thanks to the generous support of Curt Bloch's family

Exhibition “My Verses are Like Dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret: Features & Programs

Exhibition Webpage: “My Verses are Like Dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret: 9 Feb to 23 Jun 2024
Accompanying Events: Current page: Tour of the Exhibition “My Verses are Like Dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret: Dates by arrangement (from 9 Feb to 26 May 2024); Exhibition Opening: 8 Feb 2024; Curator Tour for FRIENDS OF THE JMB: 8 Apr 2024, in German; Joodse Vluchtelingen: The Fate of German-Jewish Émigrés in the Netherlands: 3 Mar 2024, in German; Archival Objects of German Jews in the Netherlands: Show & tell for FRIENDS OF THE JMB, 7 Mar 2024, in German; Het Onderwater Cabaret Live. An evening of music and poetry: 11 Apr 2024, in German; Hidden in Enschede: Conversation with Contemporary Witness Herbert Zwartz: 16 Apr 2024, in German
Publications: JMB Journal 26: Het Onderwater Cabaret: Special edition on the occasion of the exhibition

Digital Content: OWC Online Feature: A Glimpse Behind the Scenes of the Exhibition; Life and Work of Curt Bloch: Essay with biographical insights, JMB Journal 26; On the Piano of My Fantasy – Video with Marina Frenk, Richard Gonlag, and Mathias Schäfer, in German, Dutch and German Sign Language; “It’s Complicated”: A text by Simone Bloch, daughter of Curt Bloch; “Ik neurie mee ’t propellerlied…”: Essay on Het Onderwater-Cabaret: A Testament to Political Resistance in the Occupied Netherlands, 1943–45; Clandestine Literature in the Netherlands 1940–1945: Essay, JMB Journal 26; All Audio Pieces of the Exhibition with Transcriptions and Translations; All issues of Het Onderwarter-Cabaret: All 95 issues to browse
See also: Survivors in Hiding (National Socialism); To the Web Project www.curt-bloch.com

Where, when, what?

When9 Feb to 26 May 2024, by appointment
Duration90 Minuten
Where Jewish Museum Berlin
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
See location on map

Costs per group45 € for school groups incl. admission
60 € for adults reduced incl. admission
90 € for adults incl. admission

Booking requestWe offer guided tours for groups on the desired date. Please make your request at least 4 to 6 weeks before the desired date.

ContactP +49 (0)30 259 93 305 (Mon-Fri, 10 am - 4 pm)
visit@jmberlin.de

Number of participants Up to 15

Please note This tour is suitable for both adults and school classes from grades 9 to 13.

Languages We offer this tour in German and English.