CLAIRE ROMMER : FILM ACTRESS :SAVED FROM NAZIS BY ARISTEDES De SOUSA MENDES

POSTCARD 1 (SOLD)
POSTCARD 2 (SOLD)

POSTCARD 3 (SOLD)

These vintage real photo postcards feature German film actress, Claire Rommer (1904-1996). Her filmography on IMDb credits her with 49 film appearances between 1922 and 1934. She made her film debut at the age of eighteen. She also began her career as a soubrette appearing in operettas and comedies on the Berlin stage. However, her fame came from her film work. She played both leading and supportive roles. She played in silent films and made a successful transition to sound films. She even sang in some of her talkies. She was married to a prosperous Jewih man, named Adolf Strenger. Because of her marriage, in 1938 she was banned from any participation in the German film industry. It was thought that she was probably not Aryan like her husband. The rise of the Nazis forced the couple to leave Germany and emigrate to the United States via Portugal.The pair left Europe with the assistance of Aristedes de Sousa Mendes. He was a Portuguese Consular stationed in France. Mendes defied orders from his government and issued thousands of visas to Jews, allowing them to escape with their families and their lives. He was a hero for his work as a Holocaust rescuer. Ultimately, Mendes was severely punished for his defiance. After leaving Germany, Rommer’s film career ended. In the US, she divorced her husband and married a meat industry multi-millionaire.

Postcard 1 was published by Ross Verlag as part of a series (No.1933/1). Claire Rommer’s photo portrait was taken by celebrity photographer, Alexander Binder. This vintage photo postcard is in excellent condition (see scans). (SOLD)

Postcard 2 was published by Ross Verlag as part of a series (No.1933/2). Claire Rommer’s photo portrait was taken by celebrity photographer, Alexander Binder. This vintage photo postcard is in very good condition (see scans). (SOLD)

Postcard 3 was published by Ross Verlag as part of a series (no.3010/1). Miss Rommer’s portrait was taken by famed celebrity photographer Alex Binder, who operated his studio in Berlin. The postcard was postmarked in 1928. (SOLD)

Published in: on March 29, 2024 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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MARTA EGGERTH : ACTRESS & SINGER : PHOTO BY YVA: SHE WAS HOLOCAUST VICTIM

This vintage real photo postcard features Hungarian actress and singer, Marta Eggerth (1912-2013). She was a popular operetta star and many of the most famous composers of operettas, composed operetta works specifically for her. She was born in Budapest. Her mother was a dramatic operatic soprano. Eggerth began singing as a child and her mother devoted herself to developing Eggerth’s acting and singing talent. She made her theatrical debut at age eleven and while a teenager, toured internationally performing operatic works. By the early 1930’s, Eggerth achieved international fame acting in film. She made films in five languages. While making a film she met Polish tenor, Jan Kiepura and they married in 1936. The pair were an international sensation. Eggerth appeared in a Richard Rodgers production on Broadway. Eggerth and her husband starred in the Broadway production of “The Merry Widow”. She was in three different Broadway plays, all of  them between 1940 and 1945. In addition, Eggerth signed with MGM made two films with Judy Garland. Throughout her career, Eggerth continued to perform operettas internationally. Her last stage appearance occurred when she was 99 years old. The IMDb gives Eggerth 39 acting credits between 1930 and 1999. This postcard was published by Ross Verlag as part of a series (No.7648/1). Eggerth’s portrait was taken by the Yva studio in Berlin, Germany. The name Yva is a pseudonym. The photographer was actually a woman named Else Ernestine Neulander-Simon (1900-1944). She was a German Jewish photographer and was well known for her “dreamlike, multiple exposed images”. She was a leading Berlin photographer during the Weimar Republic years of Germany. She specialized in fashion, nudes, and portraiture. Later, she became involved in the early days of producing photographs for advertising. Many of her photographs were published in magazines or were shown in international exhibitions. After the Nazis took power, she was forced to work as a radioagrapher (ie x-ray technician). In 1936 she was offered a job by Life Magazine, but her husband convinced her that life for German Jews would improve over time. He did not want to move and start a new life in a country where he did not speak the language. Unfortunately, she complied with his wishes. In 1938, Nazi regulations prohibited her from working as a photographer. In 1942, the Gestapo deported her and her husband to a death camp (probably Majdanek) where they were murdered.  (SOLD)

Published in: on January 25, 2023 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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