Steffie Spira (2 June 1908 – 10 May 1995) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

, film and

television actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

. Spira was the daughter of actors

Fritz Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin ...

and

Lotte Spira Lotte Spira (; 24 April 1883 – 17 December 1943) was a German stage and film actress. She appeared in supporting roles in around seventy films. She was married to the Austrian actor Fritz Spira in 1905. In 1934 she divorced her Jewish husband ...

. Her sister was actress

Camilla Spira Camilla Spira (1 March 1906 – 25 August 1997) was a German film actress. She appeared in 68 films between 1924 and 1986. She was born in Hamburg, Germany, of Jewish ancestry on her father's side, and died in Berlin, Germany. Her father was ...

. Her father was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent, and died in a concentration camp during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. Spira became a theatre actress during the

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

, and joined the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party. Hi ...

in 1929. Following the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

takeover of power, she fled into exile. After being

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

by the French government at the Camp de Rieucros, she escaped to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Spira returned to Europe in 1947 and settled in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. She became a leading stage actor at the

Volksbühne The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a theater in Berlin. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre. About The Vol ...

and appeared frequently in East German film and television productions. In 1989, Spira was a speaker at the large

Alexanderplatz demonstration The Alexanderplatz demonstration (german: link=no, Alexanderplatz-Demonstration) was a demonstration for political reforms and against the government of the German Democratic Republic on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin on Saturday 4 November 1989 ...

calling for the current East German government to step down.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPgviMTBx48 Video in

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

minute 4:08–4:50

Selected filmography

* ''

The Great Mandarin ''The Great Mandarin'' (german: Der große Mandarin) is a 1949 West German comedy drama film directed by Karl-Heinz Stroux and starring Paul Wegener, Carsta Löck, and Käthe Haack Käthe Haack (born Käte Lisbeth Minna Sophie Isolde Haack; 1 ...

'' (1949) * '' Bürgermeister Anna'' (1950) * ''

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German Communism, communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed Marxism–Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Stalini ...

'' (1954–1955) * '' Heimliche Ehen'' (1956) * ''

Thomas Müntzer Thomas Müntzer ( – 27 May 1525) was a German preacher and theologian of the early Reformation whose opposition to both Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church led to his open defiance of late-feudal authority in central Germany. Müntzer w ...

'' (1956) * ''

Apple Trees An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

'' (1992)

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1908 births 1995 deaths Austrian people of Jewish descent Austrian stage actresses Austrian film actresses Austrian silent film actresses Austrian communists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany German stage actresses German film actresses German silent film actresses German communists Actresses from Vienna 20th-century German actresses 20th-century Austrian actresses Austrian emigrants to East Germany {{Austria-actor-stub