CLEARWATER, Fla., March 5, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Throughout much of the 1930s and the first half of the 1940s, Hitler's Third Reich cast a dark shadow over the people of Germany and the rest of Europe, invading every facet of their lives. Dieter W. Gombert and his father, Wilhelm, were in the entertainment industry, a sector that was not excluded from the tyranny of Hitler. He tells this story in his new book, Hell was Empty: A Biography from the Third Reich (now available through 1stBooks).
Longing to tell his story at last, Gombert relates his harrowing childhood growing up under the thumb of the Nazis. Hell was Empty recounts his life from the time he was 11 in 1933 until 1948, when he eventually immigrated to the United States. Gombert discusses the life of his father, Wilhelm, a great and well known German tenor who performed at Berlin's Civic Opera House. As the Third Reich began to gain steam, he was requested to divorce his racially unacceptable wife. When he refused, he was thrown out of the opera house, thrusting his family into poverty.
Gombert details his own foray into the theatre. Being naturally drawn to it, he appeared in more than 40 films as a dancer and extra. When he was given his big shot to have a lead role in a movie, his lineage was discovered. Considered racially unfit, he was told he could avoid the concentration camp if he decided to never step inside a movie studio again. In 1940, he studied to be an engineer, but remained active in the anti Third Reich movements. He toiled as an underground agent until his identity was discovered. Sentenced to death in 1944, Gombert had to make a daring escape across the border death zone into Switzerland. His journey finally led him to freedom.
Hell was Empty is a poignant memoir about the evils of war and how easily emotional madness can spread when injected into the political machine.
After coming to America, Gombert toiled in New York for a time. He eventually became an American citizen, married, worked as an engineer and continued to perform as a singer and dancer. He now lives in Florida with his wife. Hell was Empty is his first book.
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