Artists Under Hitler

What are we to make of those cultural figures, many with significant international reputations, who tried to find accommodation with the Nazi regime? Jonathan Petropoulos asks in this exploration of some of the most acute moral questions of the Third Reich era. In his nuanced analysis of prominent modernist German artists, architects, composers, film directors, painters and writers who rejected exile, choosing instead to remain during Germany's darkest period, the author exposes how individuals variously dealt with the regime's opposition to modern art. His findings explode the myth that all modern artists were anti Nazi. Artists Under Hitler closely examines cases of artists who failed in their attempts to find accommodation with the Nazi regime (Walter Gropius, Paul Hindemith, Gottfried Benn, Ernst Barlach, Emil Nolde) as well as others whose desire for official acceptance was realized (Richard Strauss, Gustaf Grundgens, Leni Riefenstahl, Arno Breker, Albert Speer). Collectively these ten figures illuminate the complex history of Nazi Germany, while individually they provide haunting portraits of humans beings confronted with impossible choices and unanswerable moral questions.