History
The list exempted the designated artists from military mobilisation during the final stages of World War II. A total of 1,041 names of artists, architects, music conductors, singers, writers and filmmakers appeared on the list. Of that number, 24 were named as especially indispensable. They thus became the equivalent of National Socialism's "national treasures."
Goebbels included about 640 motion picture actors, writers and directors on an extended version of the list. They were to be protected as part of his propaganda film efforts, which persisted through the end of the war (and culminating in the expensive final UFA production Kolberg, released in January 1945).
Many of the cultural figures appearing on the list are no longer widely remembered but there are exceptions, including a number of renowned classical musicians such as the composers Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner, Carl Orff and Norbert Schultze, the orchestral conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan, and the Wagnerian baritone Rudolf Bockelmann. Each listed artist received a letter from the Nazi Propaganda Ministry which certified his or her status. The only foreigner (Ausländer) on the list was Dutch actor Johannes Heesters.
Read more about this topic: Gottbegnadeten List
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