The reading focuses on the moving fate of her uncle Hans Litten, one of the most courageous lawyers of the Weimar Republic. Hans Litten took an early and determined stand against the rise of National Socialism. In 1931, he forced Adolf Hitler to testify in the courtroom for hours, exposing the anti-democratic orientation of the NSDAP – an act of extraordinary civil courage.
After the National Socialist takeover, Hans Litten was arrested, severely mistreated for years and deported to several concentration camps. He died in Dachau concentration camp in 1938.
His mother Irmgard Litten wrote about her son’s fate in her haunting book
“A mother fights Hitler”. In it, she describes not only the persecution of her son, but also her desperate and tireless fight for his release.
Patricia Litten, niece of Hans Litten and granddaughter of Irmgard Litten, reads from this work and connects the historical events with her personal family history. The subsequent discussion will focus on the culture of remembrance, responsibility and the question of what civil courage means today.
The multi-award-winning actress trained in Zurich and Munich and has been engaged at the Schauspiel Frankfurt, the Schiller Theater Berlin and the Staatstheater Nürnberg, among others. In addition to numerous theater roles, she has also appeared in film and television productions.
Hans Litten has once again become known to a wider public, not least thanks to the successful series “Babylon Berlin”.
