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Veit Harlan

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For other persons of the same name, see Harlan.

Veit Harlan (September 22 1899, Berlin - April 13 1964, Capri, Italy) was a German film director and actor. After studying under Max Reinhardt, he first appeared on the theatre stage in 1915. After World War I, he appeared on the Berlin stage. In 1922 he married the ill-fated Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson and the couple divorced in 1924. Gerson would later be murdered at Auschwitz with her family. In 1929, he married Hilde Koerber, having three children with her before divorcing her for political reasons related to the influence of National Socalism. Afterwards, he married the actress Kristina Soederbaum, for whom he wrote several tragic roles, further increasing her popularity. During the 1930's, Harlan made several anti-Semitic films. In 1937 Joseph Goebbels appointed Harlan as one of his leading propaganda directors. His most well known piece of this period was the film Jud Süß, which was shown for anti-Semitic purposes both in Germany and Austria. It received in 1943 UFA's highest awards. At the end of the war Harlan was charged with participating in the anti-Semitic movement and aiding the Nazis. He successfully argued against the charges on the grounds that higher-ups had deliberately interfered with his art and was acquitted. In 1951, Harlan sued Hamburg politician Erich Lüth for publicly calling for a boycott of one of Harlans post-world war II films. Harlan was granted an injunction against Lüth in the lower courts which was then lifted by the Federal Constitutional Court for violating Lüth's freedom of expression. It was a landmark decision because it clarified the importance of the constitutional civil rights in disputes between individuals. He made a few more films after the war, dying while on vacation in Capri.