A 104-YEAR-OLD entertainer who rose to fame in Germany during the Third Reich is suing a writer over a claim he sang for SS troops on a visit to a concentration camp.
Johannes Heesters, a Dutch-born singer and actor, took his complaint to a Berlin court yesterday in an attempt to force author and documentary filmmaker Volker Kuhn to withdraw his statement that he entertained Nazi guards in Dachau in 1941.
Mr Heesters, who is believed to be the world's oldest performing actor, does not deny visiting the concentration camp, but rejects charges that he sang there.
"It never happened," he said on his website.
But Mr Kuhn argued that he has evidence to back his claim - a videotaped interview with a former prisoner, Viktor Matejka, who went on to become Vienna's councillor for cultural affairs.
When asked how he knew Mr Heesters was there, Mr Matejka said: "Well, I pulled the curtain for him, I was there. I saw him singing, I saw him acting and performing for the SS."
Mr Heesters was born in the Netherlands but moved to Germany in 1935.
He has expressed his regret for visiting Dachau, but has repeatedly said he was a victim of circumstance. He wrote: "I can't help that Adolf Hitler was one of the fans of my art. But apart from that, what have I done?"
The case continues. - ( Guardianservice)