Wikipedia:
Willy Julius Rosen (born on July 18, 1894 in Magdeburg as Wilhelm Julius Rosenbaum; declared dead on October 1, 1944 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp) (according to other information: September 30, 1944) was a German cabaret artist, composer and lyricist. He was one of the most famous entertainers in Germany in the 1920s.
Willy Rosen was born to Amelie Rosenbaum, née Mercker, and Arthur Rosenbaum, a merchant, and was of Jewish descent. He attended the König-Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Magdeburg and learned to play the piano. He then took up an apprenticeship in the Berlin clothing company Kleider en gros, which he successfully completed.
In 1915 he was drafted for military service in the infantry on the Eastern Front in Russia, where he suffered a serious wound. He was already writing small texts and songs for a front-line theater. Still during the war he founded the chapel Rosen.
He then returned to Berlin and in 1919 initially found employment with his old employer. In the evenings he already played in cafés. A first activity in the cabaret took place in the same year in the Berlin cabaret Schwarzer Kater. Other venues were the cabaret Die Spinne, Rakete and the Kabarett der Komiker, founded in 1924. His patrons included the music publisher Will Meisel as well as Harry Waldau, Paul O'Montis and Peter Sachse. From 1924 he wrote his own musical comedy plays. His frequent performances and his piano accompaniment of silent films in large movie theaters led to a growing popularity. Especially his piano accompaniments with many performances a day, even in children's screenings, enjoyed great popularity. His trademark was the phrase "Lyrics and music by me", which was recited before every performance and soon became a catchphrase. Willy Rosen combined catchy melodies with witty lyrics and soon performed in major German houses. Tours took him throughout Germany, but also to Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Czechoslovakia and Belgium. He appeared on the radio and composed and wrote lyrics for the emerging talkies. There he also appeared in some supporting roles. He released over 50 records.
In 1927, at the invitation of Magdeburg's mayor Hermann Beims, he performed with great success at the German Theater Exhibition in his hometown. Twice he won the Goldene Gei-ge in the German Schlager competition.
In October 1931 he also officially adopted his previous stage name Rosen as his surname.
With the transfer of power to the National Socialists, Rosen was banned from performing in Germany. He initially gave a few guest performances abroad, but returned to Berlin again and again until 1936. After stays in Switzerland, Austria and Czechoslovakia, he emigrated to the Netherlands in 1937 and settled in Scheveningen. There he founded the exile cabaret Theater der Prom-nenten with other Berlin emigrants. The ensemble included Siegfried Arno, Trude Berliner, Rita Georg, Max Ehrlich, Hortense Raky, Willy Stettner, Szöke Szakall and Erich Ziegler.
After the German occupation of the Netherlands, the theater was banned in 1942. His friend Kurt Robitschek organized solidarity concerts for Rosen in New York and collected money for Rosen's passage to the USA. However, he did not manage to escape from Europe. Rosen was imprisoned in the transit camp Westerbork, where he participated in the theater evenings organized by Max Ehrlich. At the beginning of September 1944 he was sent to Theresienstadt to the "Magdeburg Barracks". On September 29, Willy Rosen was deported to the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz, presumably died on the way there, and was declared dead on October 1, 1944.
The playwright Verona Forster wrote a play about Rosen's life. In 2006, his hometown of Magdeburg named a street in his honor as Willy-Rosen-Straße.
Italian composer Francesco Lotoro conducted a concert of works by Jewish composers written in concentration camps in Jerusalem on April 15, 2018. The concert was held to mark Yom haAtzma'ut and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, and included works by Max Ehlich and Willy Rosen, among others.
On June 17, 2022, al commemorative stone was laid in front of his former residence, Cicerostraße 55, Berlin-Wilmersdorf.
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
