Gad Beck

Gad Beck ( Berlin , 30 of June of 1923 - Berlin, 24 of June of 2012 ) ¹ was a member Jew of resistance during Nazism .

Life

Gad Beck was born in 1923 to a Jewish family and grew up in the Weißensee district of Berlin, where he studied in the public school. In 1941 he joined the Hechaluz , a group that organized the colonization of Palestine and different forms of political resistance, including clandestine actions.

During the last two years of World War II , he organized as head of Chug Chaluzi the survival of the Jews who had been hiding.

After the War he lived initially in Munich . In 1947 he emigrated to Israel , where he lived for more than 30 years. From the beginning of the 1970s he lived with his partner, the Czech Julius Laufer. In 1979 he returned to Germany , where he began a close collaboration with Heinz Galinski , at that time, the head of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland , the central organ of Judaism in Germany. Gad Beck became director of the Jewish People ‘s University .

In 1995 he published the “memories” of a Jewish and gay Berliner, which aroused great interest: Und Gad ging zu David (“and Gad went to David”, a play on words between Gad and Gott , God , in German). However, autobiographical authenticity has been questioned. The creators of the documentary Die Freiheit des Erzählens ( “freedom of memories”), about the life of Gad Beck, say the following: ²

It is scheint, dass Gad Beck a der Pointierung seiner Geschichten willen gelegentlich den Boden historischer Wahrheit verlässt. Er erfüllt damit vor allem ein Bedürfnis seiner Zuhörerschaft bzw. All jener Erinnerungsinstanzen, die, auf der Suche nach dem Dramatisch-Spektakulären und der Einschaltquote, Geschichte auf besondere Weise erzählt bekommen wollen.

It seems that Gad Beck sometimes leaves the ground of historical truth to give him more interest in his stories. With this, it satisfies first and foremost the needs of a story told in a special way for its listeners and for the storytellers who are looking for the dramatic / dramatic and the audience shares.

Later Gad Beck made numerous lectures and lectures in both Europe and the United States .

Bibliography

• Und Gad ging zu David. Die Erinnerungen des Gad Beck 1923 bis 1945. Edition di, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-86034-313-0 ; Ebook: Edition dia 2012, ISBN 978-3-86034-501-6 (Epub), ISBN 978-3-86034-601-3 (Mobi)
• Gad Beck - Organisator im Untergrund , in Ferdinand Kroh: David kämpft. Vom jüdischen Widerstand gegen Hitler. Rowohlt, Hamburg 1988 ISBN 349915644X p.143-162