Exile and resistance. Joseph Wirth 1933-1945

The former Reich Chancellor and centrist politician Dr. Joseph Wirth fled Germany the day after the Enabling Act was passed in 1933. He, who had already warned of the dangers of right-wing nationalist forces in the 1920s ("This enemy is on the right!"), first went into exile in Paris and then in Lucerne in 1939. From there, he campaigned against National Socialism, racism and anti-Semitism. He used his personal contacts with the Vatican to obtain a statement from Pope Pius XI against racism and the persecution of Jews. After the beginning of the Second World War, he maintained contacts with the military resistance in Germany. A historical introduction by Wirth biographer Dr. Ulrike Hörster-Philips describes Joseph Wirth's time in exile. Contemporary songs and texts from the thirties and forties on the subject of persecution and resistance convey the atmosphere of the time.