1. Heinz Bernhard Lowenstein, known as Heinz Bernard was a British actor and director and theatre manager.
21 Facts About Heinz Bernard
1. 2.
Heinz Bernard trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1951.
3.
Heinz Bernard went on to become the manager of the famous leftist Unity Theatre, London.
4.
Heinz Bernard was adopted as a baby by a family called Lowenstein.
5.
Heinz Bernard Messinger grew up in a Jewish family in Nuremberg in Nazi Germany.
6.
Heinz Bernard was adopted by the Lowenstein family after his biological father died of tuberculosis.
7.
In March 1932, when Heinz Bernard was nine years old, his adoptive father Max Lowenstein committed suicide following the collapse of his business.
8.
In December 1936 Heinz Bernard had had his bar mitzvah in the Orthodox synagogue of Nuremberg where his biological father had been the hazzan.
9.
In October 1938, during Kristallnacht, the Orthodox synagogue where Heinz Bernard had had his bar mitzvah was burnt down along with most of Germany's synagogues.
10.
Heinz Bernard was ineligible even for this kind of passport as his pre-adoption father was born in Poland.
11.
On 28 August 1939, Heinz Bernard was sent to England by plane.
12.
Heinz Bernard's mother meant to join him a few days later but on the day she planned to leave Germany, war broke out trapping her on the continent.
13.
Heinz Bernard remained trapped in England and learned English by sitting in cinemas watching movies.
14.
Heinz Bernard eventually joined a home for Jewish orphans run by exiles from the German Communist Party where he organized weekly plays.
15.
Heinz Bernard worked in a variety of low-paid jobs, including as a rabbit skinner and a waiter, saving enough money to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
16.
Heinz Bernard was a UN-registered refugee with no citizenship of any country, eventually taking British citizenship in 1969.
17.
Heinz Bernard's application was rejected on the grounds that he was "not a former German citizen".
18.
Heinz Bernard directed the English Language and British Premieres of many Bertolt Brecht plays between 1958 and 1963.
19.
In 1962, Heinz Bernard organized an appeal to raise money for a new theatre, sponsors included Alec Guinness, John Osborne and a leaflet was signed by Alfie Bass and Paul Robeson.
20.
From 1971 to 1981, Heinz Bernard lived in Israel, where he worked at the National Theatre Habima and appeared in the educational TV series, Here We Are and Neighbours.
21.
Heinz Bernard continued to work until his death of a rare blood disease in 1994.