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Black Artists under Nazi Persecution

Virtual Event
(Foreground) Freddy Johnson, an American jazz musician who was interned in Tittmoning from January 1942 until February 1944, plays the piano. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Greg & Helen Hiestand; (Background) A drawing of a man playing the piano by artist Josef Nassy, who also was interned in Tittmoning. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of the Severin Wunderman Family

(Foreground) Freddy Johnson, an American jazz musician who was interned in Tittmoning from January 1942 until February 1944, plays the piano. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Greg & Helen Hiestand; (Background) A drawing of a man playing the piano by artist Josef Nassy, who also was interned in Tittmoning. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of the Severin Wunderman Family

Jazz musician Freddy Johnson refused to let racism in America stall his career. He embraced opportunities throughout Europe until the United States entered the war and he and other Americans were arrested. At the Tittmoning internment camp, Johnson continued to play music  and met Black portrait artist Josef Nassy, who depicted their daily life as prisoners.

Life was even more precarious for Black German artists. While Bayume Mohamed Husen once acted in a Nazi propaganda film, he was eventually arrested for violating Nazi racial laws and died in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Join us during Black History Month to learn about artists’ experiences in Nazi Germany.

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Guests
Kyra Schuster, Curator, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Dr. Kira Thurman, Assistant Professor of History and German, University of Michigan

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view our program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

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