Financial difficulties meant that cultural events were rare enough the perilous state of emigrants’ lives and the world around them also meant there was very little to laugh about. They addressed the situation in Germany and life in exile itself, and their audiences were largely composed of fellow emigrants.įor most audience members an evening at the cabaret was a special event. Most cabaret groups which were established in the ensuing years in Western Europe and the USA presented German-language programmes. Only rarely did they manage to collaborate with local colleagues, or present mixed-language programmes. When Germany’s 1938 annexation of its neighbour pushed émigrés onward to non-German-speaking countries, stage performers were confronted with the problem of language. However the majority went to Austria where, with a bit of luck, they were able to appear in established cabaret venues alongside their Austrian colleagues. Some cabaret artistes attempted to continue their work in Switzerland. However in Switzerland, for example, cabaret was an unfamiliar art form and, what’s more, the right to asylum was conditional on émigrés proving themselves “worthy of acceptance by behaving in a sedate manner”. For cabaret artistes, the path to exile represented the only chance for them to keep treading the boards.Īt first the other German-speaking countries offered the most logical choice of destination for anyone wishing to continue to perform in the accustomed manner. Many Jewish artistes were no longer allowed to perform or practice their professions, and many ensembles dissolved in the ensuing period. This meant a great reduction in the public presentation of contemporary cabaret. As early as 28 February 1933, the day after the Reichstag fire, the constitution was changed: freedom of opinion and right of assembly were restricted, encroachments on the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications permitted. When the Nazis seized power in 1933 this art form faced profound danger. The nature of cabaret lies, in part, in its criticism of political and social conditions. Childhood and adolescence in Munich.Living conditions and everyday life.Working and being productive in exile.
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