British Modern Military History Society

KATHY Quinlan-Flatter will give a talk, via Zoom, entitled “Forbidden art of the Third Reich” at a meeting of the British Modern Military History Society on Tuesday, May 7 at 7.30pm.

She will deal with the attitudes prevailing among the German public regarding works of art produced during the period following the First World War and the era of the Third Reich which, in the public perception, reflect national socialist ideology.

Since the Second World War, the German public prefers not to identify with its recent history, resulting in an almost automatic rejection of any works produced by artists who can be perceived as Nazi sympathisers.

In the case of paintings, the works of those branded as Nazi artists are today often removed from public exhibition areas or concealed in the basements and storerooms of museums.

Where memorials or sculptures are concerned, these are frequently defaced by members of the public or even removed altogether by the authorities from the public view.

In many individual cases, explanatory placards or notices are set up next to public memorials to clarify their significance within the context of their creation.

In other cases, the works of artists whose history during the Third Reich era has been forgotten over time are not subject to controversy and they have enjoyed popular renown for works produced in the period following the Second World War.

Kathy will be looking in particular at painters and sculptors in South Germany, including Fritz Bayerlein, Hans-Adolf Bühler, Emil Sutor and Hugo Knittel. She will be showing photos of their works.

Kathy was born in Calcutta in post-British India and grew up in England. Following studies in German, French and international relations, she moved to Germany where she worked for about 30 years as a software consultant and technical author.

Today, she is a journalist and historian and works for various newspapers and institutions in Germany and Britain. She holds German and British nationality.

To register for the talk, email info@bmmhs.org and log-in details will be emailed to you on the morning of the talk. A donation of £5 is requested for each talk to cover things such as speaker costs, licence fees and donation to military charity.

The meeting on May 15 will be held at Woodcote village hall when Chris Leworthy will speak on “Disaster and bravery at Dieppe”.

Although the Dieppe raid, Operation Jubilee, has been acknowledged by most as a disaster, it is a fantastic story of bravery in a desperate situation.

The talk will be around 40 minutes, followed by questions, and will cover the situation in 1942 leading up to the operation, the political, operational and intelligence objectives, the resources committed and what happened.

Since retiring, Chris has furthered his knowledge of military history by visiting, reading about and volunteering at a number of historic sites. He gives talks covering key episodes in the Second World War.

Entry costs £8, which includes refreshments and can be paid on the door.