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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.

“My Verses are Like Dynamite”

Curt Blochʼs Het Onderwater Cabaret – Exhibition

Vielleicht kommen euch die Gedichte, 
Die ich in eurer Sprache schrieb 
In spätren Zeiten zu Gesichte 
Und täten sie’s, wär mir’s recht lieb.

Perhaps at some point in the future, 
the poems in your tongue I composed, 
will be brought to your notice, 
and if so, to delight will I then be disposed. 
(Transl. by Aubrey Pomerance)

Over a period of more than 19 months between August 1943 and April 1945, the hitherto unknown German Jewish author Curt Bloch produced a unique work of creative resistance while in hiding in the Netherlands: Het Onderwater Cabaret.

Past exhibition

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Libeskind building is marked in green

Where

Libeskind Building, ground level, Eric F. Ross Gallery
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Where, when, what?

Week for week, Bloch put together a small format booklet comprising of handwritten poems in both Dutch and German which confronted Nazi propaganda and addressed a wide variety of themes: the course of the war, the lies and crimes of the National Socialists and their collaborators, his situation in hiding and the fate of his family, the approaching downfall and defeat of the Axis forces, and the fate of the German people. Through caustic satire and sardonic wit, Bloch mocked and ridiculed all of the major fascist leaders, from Hitler, Goebbels and Göring, to Mussolini and Seyß-Inquart, Reich commissioner of the Netherlands, alongside a host of their subordinates and henchmen, while always remaining acutely conscious of the enormity of their atrocities.

Some eight decades since the creation of the work and nearly fifty years after his death, Curt Bloch’s hope is now finally being fulfilled: The exhibition presents all 95 original issues of the Het Onderwater Cabaret, accompanied by insight into the production of their covers, which Bloch adorned with photomontages put together using materials from newspapers and magazines at his disposal. Audio readings of selected poems and a video performance staged by the actors Marina Frenk, Richard Gonlag and Mathias Schäfer bring Bloch’s verses to life. 
 

Het Onderwater Cabaret 30 Aug 1943; Jewish Museum Berlin, Convolute/816, Curt Bloch collection, loaned by the Charities Aid Foundation America thanks to the generous support of Curt Blochʼs family

Front cover of Het Onderwater Cabaret magazine, issue dated 30 August 1943, showing a collage of the sea and the head of a man who appears to be a diver.

Het Onderwater Cabaret 30 Aug 1943; Jewish Museum Berlin, Convolute/816, Curt Bloch collection, loaned by the Charities Aid Foundation America thanks to the generous support of Curt Blochʼs family

Alongside the display of additional works written by Bloch while “under water”, his helpers and those who were with him in hiding are introduced, accompanied by eyewitness interviews. The entire Het Onderwater Cabaret is accessible in digital form, accompanied by transcriptions.

Bloch’s works, known to only a handful of people at the time of their composition, will now find the recognition and appreciation they so greatly deserve. In today’s world, in which war, disinformation, discrimination, exclusion and persecution are widespread, they remain highly pertinent. 
 

Het Onderwater Cabaret 3 Apr 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, Convolute/816, Curt Bloch collection, loaned by the Charities Aid Foundation America thanks to the generous support of Curt Blochʼs family

Front cover of the magazine Het Onderwater Cabaret, issue dated 3 April 1945, with a red and blue collage of a man emerging from a hatch, holding it open for another man to follow him out.

Het Onderwater Cabaret 3 Apr 1945; Jewish Museum Berlin, Convolute/816, Curt Bloch collection, loaned by the Charities Aid Foundation America thanks to the generous support of Curt Blochʼs family
(6 items)

  • View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

    photo: Thomas Bruns

  • View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

    photo: Thomas Bruns

  • View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

    photo: Thomas Bruns

  • View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

    photo: Thomas Bruns

  • View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

    photo: Thomas Bruns

  • View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

    photo: Thomas Bruns

Room view of the exhibition "Het Onderwarter Cabaret": The title and introductory text can be seen on a black wall.

View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

photo: Thomas Bruns

Room view of the exhibition "Het Onderwater Cabaret": two visitors look at objects on a table.

View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

photo: Thomas Bruns

Room view of the exhibition "Het Onderwater Cabaret": two visitors look at a digital application.

View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

photo: Thomas Bruns

Room view of the exhibition "Het Onderwater Cabaret": a visitor looks at documents in a display case.

View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

photo: Thomas Bruns

Room view of the exhibition "Het Onderwater Cabaret": on the left you can see showcases along the wall, at the end of the room a large screen with video projection.

View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

photo: Thomas Bruns

Room view of the exhibition "Het Onderwater Cabaret": two visitors look at documents in a display case.

View of the exhibition “My verses are like dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret, Jewish Museum Berlin

photo: Thomas Bruns

Exhibition Information at a Glance

  • When 9 Feb to 23 June 2024
  • Where Libeskind Building, ground level, Eric F. Ross Gallery
    Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
    See Location on Map
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.

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

Exhibition Webpage

Current page: “My Verses are Like Dynamite” Curt Bloch’s Het Onderwater Cabaret: 9 Feb to 23 Jun 2024

Publications

JMB Journal 26: Het Onderwater Cabaret: Special edition on the occasion of the exhibition

See also

Digital Content