November 6, 1941, Berlin. Joachim Gottschalk, one of the most famous actors in Nazi Germany,
is desperate. The gestapo, the Nazi’s official secret police,
is about to enter his house and deport his wife Meta and their 8 years old son Michael
into Theresienstadt concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. They know
that there is no point in hoping for anything and see only one escape from this situation – death.
Joachim Gottschalk was born on 10 April 1904 in Calau - the Prussian province of Brandenburg.
His father was a physician and before Joachim started taking acting lessons,
he had spent 4 years on seagoing vessels. During his theater engagement in Stuttgart, he met
actress, Meta Wolff. They married on May 3, 1930 and their son Michael was born in February, 1933.
It was at the time when Adolf Hitler came into power and their life changed dramatically.
Shortly after the Nazis took power, they established The Reich Chamber of Culture
in August 1933. Only its members had the right to work in a theater profession in the German Reich
and a prerequisite for membership was the "Aryan certificate" which confirmed
that a person belonged to the presumed Aryan race.
However, Joachim’s wife Meta was Jewish and as such, she was forbidden to work as an actress.
Between 1934 and 1938 Gottschalk played at the municipal theater in Frankfurt. In 1938
he started to play at the Berlin theater where he became one of its greatest stars.
The same year Gottschalk started his film career starring in the movie “ You and
I “ next to Brigitte Horney – a famous German actress with whom he became a good friend
and the two starred in 4 successful films together between 1938 and 1941.
1939 marked the beginning of the second world 2 and although his movies were successful and he was
famous in Germany and across Europe, the worst for Gottschalk was to come. In April 1941 he attended
a party in Berlin with his wife Meta and Joseph Goebbels – Nazi propaganda minister - was present,
too. Goebbels was charmed by Meta and allegedly kissed her hand. However, he did not know she
was Jewish and when Goebbels got to know about it later, he was furious and ordered Joachim to
divorce his wife. When Gottschalk refused, Goebbels ordered Meta and their son to be
deported into Theresienstadt concentration camp. Joachim was well informed and knew what that
would mean to his wife and son and asked to be deported to Theresienstadt with them. However,
this request was refused and Joachim was told he would be drafted into the Wehrmacht instead.
Joachim and Meta realized that their situation was hopeless.
On November 6, 1941, minutes before Gestapo came, Joachim and his wife had sedated their
son Michael and themselves with sleeping pills and turned on the poisoning gas killing all 3 of them.
The evil Joseph Goebbels wanted to have the last word even after their death.
Participation in the funeral was forbidden, and the Gestapo photographed the participants.
Nevertheless, some colleagues including the actress Brigitte Horney, gave the final escort.
Gottschalk’s reasoning for this act only became clear to the public after the war.
May Joachim Gottschalk, once devoted husband, father and famous movie star, become symbol of
those who have become forgotten but once lived, suffered and died under the criminal Nazi regime.
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