Heinz Bernhard Löwenstein, known as Heinz Bernard (22 December 1923 – 18 December 1994) was a British actor and director and theatre manager. Of Polish-Jewish and German-Jewish descent, he lived and worked in Israel from 1971-81. He trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
(RADA), graduating in 1951.
After graduation, he worked in a group of travelling players throughout Britain, performing every night in different towns and villages. He went on to become the manager of the famous leftist
Unity Theatre, London
Unity Theatre was a theatre club formed in 1936, and initially based in St Judes Hall, Britannia Street, Somers Town, London NW1. In 1937, it moved to a former chapel in Goldington Street, also in Somers Town, an area which is part of the prese ...
.
As manager of Unity Theatre he staged the first professional British production of a
Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
play, ''
The Visions of Simone Machard
''The Visions of Simone Machard'' (german: Die Gesichte der Simone Machard, links=no) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Written in 1942, the play is the second of three treatments of the Joan of Arc story that Brecht crea ...
''.
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his wor ...
, who later gained fame as the author of the musical
''Oliver!'', designed the poster. Bernard also acted and directed in the travelling
Century Theatre and taught at RADA, where he was director of admissions.
Heinz's surname at birth was Messinger. He was adopted as a baby by a family called
Löwenstein
Löwenstein () is a city in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was first mentioned in 1123. The castle of Löwenstein served as a residence for the counts of Löwenstein-Wertheim. In 1634 the castle was destroyed by the ...
. After leaving
RADA
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...
he worked under the professional name Harry Bernard, later becoming Heinz Bernard.
His daughter
Anna Lowenstein was elected as an
Esperantist
An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperant ...
in December 2019.
Childhood
Heinz Messinger grew up in a Jewish family in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in Nazi Germany. He was adopted by the Lowenstein family after his biological father died of tuberculosis. His biological father was the
hazzan of the city's Orthodox synagogue. As was usual at the time, he was not told by his parents that he was adopted. In March 1932, when Heinz was nine years old, his adoptive father Max Lowenstein committed suicide following the collapse of his business. In 1933 the Nazis came to power in Germany and began persecuting the Jews. Jews were banned from state schools and only one Jewish school, the
Israelitische Realschule, in neighbouring
Fürth
Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the ...
, was allowed to operate (it was closed in 1939) where Heinz attended.
In November 1935, the
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
deprived Heinz's family of their German citizenship. In December 1936 Heinz had had his
bar mitzvah in the Orthodox synagogue of Nuremberg where his biological father had been the hazzan. In August 1938
Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a member of the Nazi Party, the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reichstag'', the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virul ...
, editor of
Der Stürmer
''Der Stürmer'' (, literally "The Stormer / Attacker / Striker") was a weekly German tabloid-format newspaper published from 1923 to the end of the Second World War by Julius Streicher, the '' Gauleiter'' of Franconia, with brief suspensions ...
, ordered the large Nuremberg Reform Synagogue torn down. In October 1938, during
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
, the Orthodox synagogue where Heinz had had his
bar mitzvah was burnt down along with most of Germany's synagogues. He hid with relatives in Frankfurt.
In August 1938, Poland issued an order depriving Polish Jews residing outside of Poland of their citizenship. Although Heinz was born in Germany and adopted by native German Jews, his real father had emigrated from Poland. In return, Germany began expelling Jews of Polish origin to Poland. The Poles refused to admit them and some 17,000 Jews were trapped between the two countries at
Zbąszyń
Zbąszyń (german: Bentschen) is a town in western Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, in Nowy Tomyśl County. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Zbąszyń.
Geography
The town is situated on the Obra river in the Greater Poland his ...
. At some point the Germans began tracing adopted children of Polish emigrants and in 1939 began proceedings to expel Heinz.
Jews in Nazi Germany were eligible for one-way passports only, to leave the country; other countries would not admit them due to this. Heinz was ineligible even for this kind of passport as his pre-adoption (biological) father was born in Poland. He was also ineligible for a Polish passport. His mother eventually procured a forged Polish passport for him. In July 1939 the MP
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indus ...
, who dedicated his life to saving Jews, asked a parliamentary question directed at the Home Secretary:
"Colonel Wedgwood asked the Home Secretary whether he will authorise a visa to Frau Betty Loewenstein, icand her son, Heinz, Nurenberg, guarantee and application for whom was made by Walter Block, Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent, on 10th May, in view of the fact that the boy, aged 16 years, is under expulsion orders for 10th July?"
As a result of this question Heinz and his mother, Betty (maiden name Ehrlich) were granted transit visas to pass through England and join his uncles, who had migrated to the United States. On 28 August 1939, Bernard was sent to England by plane. His mother meant to join him a few days later but on the day she planned to leave Germany, war broke out trapping her on the continent. In mid-1940, she received a U.S. visa and took the
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...
, travelling through
Japanese-occupied China to Japan and sailing from there to Seattle. From Seattle she took a bus to Pennsylvania.
Heinz remained trapped in England and learned English by sitting in cinemas watching movies. He eventually joined a home for Jewish orphans run by
exiles from the German Communist Party where he organized weekly plays. Heinz worked in a variety of low-paid jobs, including as a rabbit skinner and a waiter, saving enough money to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London.
After the war, his mother informed him that he was adopted. A biological brother and sister had reached Palestine before the war and now made contact with him. Heinz's brother was a co-founder of Kibbutz
Ramat Yochanan. Heinz was a UN-registered refugee with no citizenship of any country, eventually taking British citizenship in 1969.
Heinz Bernard's biological mother was one of 237 Jews deported from Frankfurt to
Kalevi-Liiva in Estonia in September 1942 on transport DA 406. After a 9 day journey she was shot on arrival. A sister was also murdered (location and date unknown).
In 1992, Heinz applied for German citizenship. His application was rejected on the grounds that he was "not a former German citizen".
Career
In the 1950s, Bernard was manager of
Unity Theatre, a radical theatre in London. He directed the English Language and British Premieres of many
Bertolt Brecht plays between 1958 and 1963.
[The Story of Unity Theatre pp 353 - 365 by Colin Chambers, Lawrence & Wishart 1989.] Other world premieres included
Arthur Adamov
Arthur Adamov (23 August 1908 – 15 March 1970) was a playwright, one of the foremost exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd.
Early life
Adamov (originally Adamian) was born in Kislovodsk in the Terek Oblast of the Russian Empire to a wealthy ...
's "The Scavengers" and the first ever British production of an Israeli play, "The Ganze Macher" by
Ephraim Kishon
Ephraim Kishon (: August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was a Hungarian-born Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satirists in Israel, and was also particula ...
(1958).
There was also a premiere of a play "Call me Not Naomi", written by his wife, Nettie Lowenstein under the pen-name "Ruth Messinger" (the name of Bernard's older sister, murdered by the Nazis) and (translation by Heinz Bernard) Hungarian author
Gyula Hay's play "The Bridge of Life".
In 1962, Bernard organized an appeal to raise money for a new theatre, sponsors included
Alec Guinness,
John Osborne and a leaflet was signed by
Alfie Bass
Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...
and
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...
.
Unity Theatre provided the entertainment for the
Aldermaston Marches
The Aldermaston marches were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s, taking place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of fifty ...
and as its manager, Bernard was close to the front of every single Aldermaston march.
In the early 1960s, Heinz was director of a travelling theatre in the Lake District in Cumbria called the
Century Theatre. At the time television was rare and the travelling theatre provided a major form of local entertainment. In the late 1960s he played the role of the Rabbi in the West End production of ''
Fiddler on the Roof'' (at Her Majesty's Theatre).
From 1971 to 1981, Bernard lived in Israel, where he worked at the National Theatre
Habima
The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv.
History ...
and appeared in the educational TV series, Here We Are and Neighbours. The shows aired twice a week on
Israeli Educational Television
The Israeli Educational Television (also known as IETV, he, הטלוויזיה החינוכית הישראלית, ''HaŦelevizia HaKhinuchít HaIsraelit'' or just ''חינוכית'' - ''Hinuchit'') was a state-owned public terrestrial televisio ...
for 17 years, making him a familiar face to a generation of Israelis and leading to parts in a wide variety of mainstream Israeli cinema.
In 1981, he returned to England, where he had to restart his career. He continued to work until his death of a rare blood disease in 1994. He died four days before his 71st birthday.
Obituary
Independent.co.uk; accessed 26 November 2016.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Obituary
New Theatre Quarterly
On Habima Website
Clips
*Heinz alongside Israeli star Uri Zohar
Uri Zohar ( he, אורי זוהר; 4 November 1935 – 2 June 2022) was an Israeli film director, actor and comedian who left the entertainment world to become an Orthodox rabbi.
Biography
Uri Zohar was born in Tel Aviv. His parents were Polis ...
in 1977 Israeli movie
*As Mr Cohen in the Israeli cult English teaching TV series written by his wife Nettie:
*Israeli English teaching TV series, Here We Are (Israeli Educational TV website): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Ortc6uDPw
*David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to:
Sports
* Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor
* David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier
* David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer
Oth ...
has Heinz Bernard loaded into a catapult and tossed at Masada, in the 1981 TV series ''Masada
Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the D ...
'': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHTwqeJGWkg (7:54 to 9:35)
*As Rabbi in Dempsey and Makepeace
''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Detective Makepeace), who later married ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TkstNVprAA (from 33rd minute)
*As Herr Pfister in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nx7ieSawlc (7th minute)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Heinz
1923 births
1994 deaths
British male film actors
British male television actors
British Jews
British people of German-Jewish descent
British people of Polish-Jewish descent
20th-century British male actors