seiyuu
Lowens, Curt
- Birthdate
- Nov 17, 1925 (100 yrs)
Personal Information
Curt Lowens, born Curt Löwenstein on November 17, 1925, and passing away on May 8, 2017, was a distinguished stage, film, and television actor who also made history as a Holocaust survivor and rescuer. He saved approximately 150 Jewish children during the war. Originally from Allenstein in East Prussia, now Olsztyn, Poland, Lowens was raised by a respected lawyer father and a mother deeply involved in local Jewish organizations. Following the Nazi takeover of Germany, which severely impacted his father's legal practice, the family relocated to Berlin, seeking safety within the city's larger Jewish community. Young Curt continued his education and prepared for his bar mitzvah under Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky at the Fasanenstrasse Synagogue. However, the Kristallnacht violence in November 1938 led to the closure of his school, and he eventually received his bar mitzvah in a school auditorium alongside 34 other youths in early 1939. His older brother, Heinz, successfully emigrated to Britain shortly before World War II began. In early 1940, Lowens and his parents intended to travel to the United States via the neutral Netherlands, but their departure from Rotterdam was thwarted by the German invasion on that very day. During the initial two years of the occupation, his father secured a desk position with the Jewish Council in Amsterdam, a role that temporarily shielded the family from deportation to Auschwitz. Despite this, Curt and his mother were arrested and sent to Westerbork in June 1943, only to be released through his father's connections. The family then entered hiding separately, as individual placements were easier to arrange with rescuers. Assuming the false identity of Ben Joosten, Lowens maintained contact with his mother, who was receiving treatment at a hospital run by Catholic nuns under an alias; she passed away in January 1944. Meanwhile, Lowens became an active participant in a Dutch rescue network involving Hanna van der Voort and Nico Dohmen, helping to hide Jewish children. By the end of the war, this group had rescued roughly 150 children. Lowens also assisted two downed American Army Air Corps pilots, an act for which he later received a commendation from General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Following liberation, he served as an interpreter for the British Eighth Corps, aiding in the house arrest of remaining Nazi leaders in Flensburg, Germany, in mid-May 1945. In 1947, Lowens immigrated to the United States with his father and step-mother. Adopting the name Curt Lowens, he pursued acting training at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York. His career remained active until his final days, featuring appearances in more than 100 films and television programs starting from 1960.
