Jews in German cinema

Jews made significant contributions to the development of the German film industry prior to the rise of Nazism. By 1933, around 20% of German professionals in the film industry were Jewish. Nazi antisemitism, including a ban on Jewish professionals in the film industry and culminating in the Holocaust, caused an exodus from Germany of film professionals, many of whom were Jewish or non-Jews with Jewish family members. Many of the remaining Jewish film professionals who were unable to escape were murdered, including Kurt Gerron, Otto Wallburg, and Paul Morgan. The seizing of German film studios by the Nazis during the 1930s marked the demise of a Golden Age of German cinema marked by innovative filmmaking, including German expressionist cinema and a number of films now regarded as masterpieces. Notable Jews during Germany's Golden Age of Cinema include Hedy Lamarr, Peter Lorre, Billy Wilder, Conrad and Robert Wiene, Fritz Lang, Hans Janowitz, Ernst Lubitsch, Jules Greenbaum, Erich Pommer, Robert Siodmak, and Max Nivelli. Some non-Jews such as Douglas Sirk fled because they had Jewish spouses or children. Some Jewish Holocaust survivors and refugees who returned remained active in West German or East German cinema, including Artur Brauner, Ludwig Berger, Inge Meysel, Hans Jacoby, Hans Oliva-Hagen (father of singer and actress Nina Hagen), and Buddy Elias (a cousin of Anne Frank).