Max Michaelis Ehrlich was an actor, a director, scriptwriter and an artistic manager. He was trained at the theater of Max Reinhardt in Berlin and developed in the late twenties and thirties into one of the most popular actors and comedians of Germany. Besides the stage work he played and directed films, released records with songs from his shows, and wrote a bestseller with anecdotes from the entertainment world. After 1933, when Jewish artists were restricted in their performances, he played in Switzerland, but also in Germany, within the framework of the Jüdische Kulturbund. He was the president of the department art of the cabaret. After the Kristallnacht, he decided to leave the country. His three farewell performances were completely sold out. In 1939 he came to the Netherlands and began to perform with the group De Prominenten by Willy Rosen in Scheveningen. Later he moved to Amsterdam where he also put his stamp on the cultural life. In Westerbork he was the initiator and leader of the camp cabaret. He had a special position in the camp, enjoyed privileges, but was because of this somehow contested - Etty Hillesum described him as the "court jester of the camp commander". After six performances the cabaret was closed. Westerbork was evacuated and Max Ehrlich was deported to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz, where he was killed on 1 October 1944.
The following website contains Ehrlich's filmography and a list of his theater activities as well as much information about those with whom he worked in Westerbork.
Also a biography about Ehrlich appeared: B. Sion, Max Ehrlich: le théâtre contre la Barbarie (Geneva, 2004)
Biography