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Lecture

Daniel Snowman
The Cultural Impact on Britain of the ‘Hitler Emigrés’, Part 1: Pre-Nazi Mitteleuropa

Tuesday 20.08.2024

Summary

In a pair of richly illustrated lectures, Daniel Snowman examines the collective talent of the ‘Hitler Emigrés’, arguing that their intellectual, cultural and artistic contributions to Britain far exceeded their numbers.

Snowman examines the world of pre-Nazi Mitteleuropa, including post-Habsburg Vienna and Weimar Berlin, and its ruthless impact on the lives and work of the mostly Jewish refugees who ultimately fled to Britain. He also touches on how Expressionism, Modernism, Bauhaus architecture, Neue Sachlichkeit, and other aspects of arts and culture were shaped by the early years of Nazism.

Daniel Snowman

an image of Daniel Snowman

Daniel Snowman is a social and cultural historian. Born in London to a Jewish family in 1938 and educated at Cambridge and Cornell, Daniel became a lecturer at the University of Sussex and went on to work for many years at the BBC as senior producer of radio features and documentaries. A senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), his many books include a social history of opera and a study of the cultural impact of the ‘Hitler Emigrés’ and, most recently, his memoir “Just Passing Through: Interactions with the World 1938-2021”.