This will feature prominently in my final Schellberg book and there has already been a hint of it in The Class Letter.
Drama actually remained important to the Nazis and we may be astounded that Anika’s drama academy remained open throughout World War II. Of course there would be difficulties with young men going off to war to fight and the young women having to fit their work experience and war work around studying.
The Nazis of course allowed some forms of the theatre and banned others. Of course they used theatres for propaganda. World War II was not just a military war. It was also a cultural war. Theatre remained important and indeed several theatres were renovated at this time. German language theatre even sprang up in occupied countries.
Cleary the drama academies were kept going to provide a work force for these theatres and also the thriving film industry.
Shakespeare was one of the few foreign playwrights allowed. Naturally Goethe and Schiller plays were performed. Brecht’s were not, as one might guess. Brecht left Germany in fear for his life.
In an earlier post I spoke about Swing Youth. Anika and her friends supported by Tante Gisela will build on this and take drama underground into a type of Speakeasy setting.
We’re definitely in the realm of fiction now. And yet. Could something of this nature actually have happened? I’ll definitely be exploring ‘what if’.
Also, Gisela will have several encounters with a mysterious figure who offers her several pathways into resistance.
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