Bibliographie

Literature Overview

The research on the circus history in Nazi Germany has ,thus far, focused primarily on the enforced alignment (Gleichschaltung) and its negative consequences for the cultural life in Germany (among others Kuznezow 1970; Günther/Winkler 1986; Lipphardt 2008). Biographies of famous German circus directors show the diverse reactions to National Socialism before and after 1933 (Günther 1991; Nissing 1993; Winkler 1998; Winkler 2014). However, parts of these contributions are rather popular in character and would need to be critically reviewed on the basis of archival sources.

In regard to Jewish circus people persecuted by the Nazis, several monographs, chapters, and articles have been published so far. In particular, the history of the Jewish circus family Blumenfeld is well analyzed (Winkler/Winkler 2002). The same is the case for the heroic rescue of Jewish artists by the circus director Adolf Althoff and his wife Maria, who had been supported in this endeavor by the whole community of artists and workers of their circus (Lehmann-Brune 1991; Prior 1999).

Although single cases have been mentioned in general works on the Nazi persecution of Sinti and Roma in the German Reich (see Zimmermann 1996; Berger/Eiselen/Gerwers 2002; Fings/Sparing 2005), a comparable historiography on the fate of Roma and Jenische among the travelling circus people is still a desideratum. The European perspective, however, has been missing so far.

Furthermore, the question of forced labour in German circuses during WWII has, thus far, been almost entirely ignored. At the same time, it is obvious that young German artists and circus workers who had to serve in the Wehrmacht had to be replaced by foreigners in the course of the war. With the help of archival materials and interviews, it will be possible to get a first insight into this important, yet overlooked, aspect of European circus history.

In France, the history of internment camps for ‘nomads’ and Roma groups in camps and other facilities is now better understood (mainly dedicated to works by Filhol and Hubert 1999 and 2009). However, the fates of travelling circus groups in Nazi German occupied France and Vichy-France have not yet come under academic examination.

In Scandinavia, studies on artists, circus owners and general circus history have not, in most cases, been written by academic researchers (Enevig 2004, Nevala 2015). In recent years, publications have thematised the fates of travelling circus groups (Hazell 2002; Eisfeldt 2014). However, it can be argued that the history of travelling circus people during the early years of the Nordic welfare state, a period which coincided historically with Fascism and National Socialism, is still a desideratum.  Within our research, we aim to fill, as much as possible, some of the aforementioned gaps, and thus also stimulate further studies on the topic.

Selected Bibliography

Literature published before 1945:

Ferdinand Althoff, Die Letzten von Freialdenhoven: Die Geschichte einer alten ZirkusFamilie (Jülich: Fischer, 1936).

Max Berol-Konorah, 25 Jahre Internationale Artisten-Loge: Freigewerkschaftlicher Zentralverband der Spezialitätenkünstler von Varieté, Zirkus und Kabarett. Ihr Werden, Wachsen und Wirken, 1901-1926 (Berlin: Das Programm, 1926).

Eva Justin, ‘Die Rom-Zigeuner’, in Neues Volk, Vol. 11, No. 5 (July 1943), pp. 21-24.

Hans Stosch-Sarrasani, Durch die Welt im Zirkuszelt (Berlin: Schützen-Verlag, 1940).

Publication organs of German Circus Associations before 1945: Among the historical printed sources, the publication organs of the ‘Internationale ArtistenLoge (International Artists Lodge)’ and of the ‘Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture, RKK)’ are of central importance. In 1935, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels replaced the existing journals ‘Das Programm (The Program)’ and ‘Organ’ by the new periodical ‘Die Deutsche Artistik (The German Artistry)’. Fortunately, all numbers of these journals are available in Berlin, although spread over three different libraries (State Library, Library of the Federal Archive, and ‘Berliner Stadtmuseum’).

Literature published after 1945: Paul Adrian, Sur le chemin des grands cirques voyageurs (Bourg-la-Reine: Adrian, 1959)

Lutz Berger/Christine Eiselen/Volker Gerwers, Verachtet, vertrieben, verfolgt: Die Verfolgung der Sinti und Roma in Bochum und Wattenscheid (Bochum: VVN, 2002).

Louis Sampion Bouglione/Marjorie Aiolfi, Le Cirque d’Hiver (Paris: Flammarion, 2002)

Noel Daniel (ed.), The Circus, 1870s-1950s (Cologne: Taschen, 2010).

Andrew D’Arcangelis, Die Jenischen – verfolgt im NS-Staat 1934-1944: Eine soziolinguistische und historische Studie (Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovač, 2006).

Sonny Eisfeldt/Anne-Charlotte Nilsson Eisfeldt, Eisfeldt – en suurealistisk familj (Uddevalla: Bohusläns museums förlag, 2014).

Anders Enevig, Cirkus- og gøglerslækter: Miljø og stamtavler (Odder: Wisby & Wilkens, 2004).

Anders Enevig, Tatere og Rejsende (Kopenhagen: Forlaget Fremand, 1965).

Emmanuel Filhol/Marie-Christine Hubert, Les Tsiganes en France: Un sort à part, 19391946 (Paris: Perrin, 2009).

Karola Fings/Frank Sparing, Rassismus – Lager – Völkermord. Die nationalsozialistische Zigeunerverfolgung in Köln (Cologne: Emons, 2005).

Shannon L. Fogg, The Politics of Everyday Life in Vichy France: Foreigners, Undesirables, and Strangers (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Reimar Gilsenbach, Das Chapiteau ist meine Welt (unpublished manuscript, no date).

Sharon Bohn Gmelch, ‘Groups that Don’t Want In: Gypsies and Other Artisan, Trader, and Entertainer Minorities’, in Annual Review of Anthropology, 15 (1986), pp.307-330.

Ernst Günther, Sarrasani – wie er wirklich war (Berlin, Henschelverlag, 19913).

Ernst Günther/ Dietmar Winkler, Zirkusgeschichte: Ein Abriß der Geschichte des deutschen Zirkus (Berlin: Henschelverlag, 1986).

Bo Hazell, Resandefolket – från tattare till traveller (Stockholm, Ordfront 2002).

Marie-Christine Hubert, Les Tsiganes en France 1939-1946: Assignation à résidence, Internement, déportation (Thèse d’histoire, Université Paris 10, 1997).

Marie-Christine Hubert, ‘The internment of Gypsies in France’, in Donald Kenrick (ed.), In the shadow of the Swastika, Vol. 2: The Gypsies during the Second World War (Paris/Hatfield: Centre de recherches tsiganes/University of Hertfordshire, 1999), pp. 59-88.

Pascal Jacob, Le Cirque: Du théâtre équestre aux arts de la piste (Paris: Larousse, 2002).

Pascal Jacob, Le cirque: un art à la croisée des chemins (Paris: Gallimard, 2001).

Dominique Jando, Histoire mondiale du cirque (Paris: Delarge, 1977).

Yehuda Koren/Eilat Negev, Im Herzen waren wir Riesen: Die Überlebensgeschichte einer Liliputanerfamilie (Munich: Econ, 2003).

Jewgeni Kuznezow, Der Zirkus der Welt: Mit einem ergänzenden Teil von Ernst Günther und Gerhard Krause (Berlin: Henschelverlag, 1970).

Jean Laloum, ‘Les gagne-petit du Marais à travers les sources de l’Occupation: précarité, expédients et lendemains incertains’, in Archives juives, No. 48 (2015), pp. 96-108.

Marlies Lehmann-Brune, Die Althoffs: Geschichte und Geschichten um die größte Circusdynastie der Welt (Frankfurt on the Main: Umschau, 1991).

Anna Lipphardt, ‘Spielraum des Globalen. Deutschen und der Zirkus’, in Ulfried Reichardt (ed.) Die Vermessung der Globalisierung: Kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2008), pp. 159-178.

Julius Markschiess van Trix, ‘Verfolgte Artistik’, in Kassette: Ein Almanach für Bühne, Podium und Manege, No. 2 (1978), pp. 111-112.

Miriam Neirick, When Pigs Could Fly and Bears Could Dance: A History of the Soviet Circus (Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 2012).

Heikki Nevala, Huvielämän kiertolaisia – kotimainen sirkus ja tivolitoiminta 1900-1950 (Kerava: Keravan museo ja Sirkuksen tiedotuskeskus, 2015).

Herbert St. Nissing, Strassburger: Geschichte eines jüdischen Circus (Dormagen: CircusVerlag, 1993).

Denis Peschanski, (1994). Les Tsiganes en France, 1939-1946 (Paris: CNRS Éditions, 1994).

Ingeborg Prior, Der Clown und die Zirkusreiterin: Eine Liebe in finsterer Zeit (Munich: Piper, 1999).

Herman van Rens, Verfolgd in Limburg. Joden en Sinti Nederlands-Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereloorlag (Hilversum: Verloren, 2013).

André Rosenberg, Les enfants dans la Shoah: La déportation des enfants juifs et tsiganes de France (Paris, Les Éditions de Paris Max Chaleil, 2013).

Serge [Maurice Feaudierre], Histoire du cirque (Paris: Gründ, 1947).

Jacques Sigot, ‘L’internement des tsiganes en France, 1939-1946’, Les chemins de la mémoire, No. 108 (2001), pp. 2-7.

Robert Sugarman (ed.), The Many Worlds of Circus (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007).

Joseph Valet, ‘Gitans et voyageurs d’Auvergne durant la guerre 1939-1945’, Études tsiganes, No. 6 (1995), pp. 211-219.

Emmanuel Wallon (ed.), Le cirque au risque de l’art (Arles: Actes Sud, 2002).

Dietmar Winkler, ‘Kapitän’ Alfred Schneider: Ein Sachse unter hundert Löwen (Gransee: Edition Schwarzdruck, 2014).

Gisela Winkler/ Dietmar Winkler, Die Blumenfelds: Schicksale einer jüdischen Zirkusfamilie (Gransee: Edition Schwarzdruck, 2002).

Gisela Winkler, Circus Busch: Geschichte einer Manege in Berlin (Berlin: Be.bra, 1998).

Michael Zimmermann, Rassenutopie und Genozid: Die nationalsozialistische ‘Lösung der Zigeunerfrage’ (Hamburg: Hans Christians, 1996).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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