Elly Ney als Kunstikone in der jungen BRD

Abstract

Though careers in the Third Reich could not be made with any open opposition to the system, most of the compromised celebrities were able to convince the public of their personal integrity in postwar Germany. The lasting success of Elly Ney is an impressive example, since her support by the federal presidents Theodor Heuss and Heinrich Lubke offered her the aura of national legitimacy. At the same time, the press highlighted her enthusiasm for Hitler regularly, but not her anti-Semitic convictions. The dispute about her character was fiercely fought even within the German Federation of Trade Unions, which offers a symptomatic portrayal of the national climate in the 1950s and 60s.