Otto Wallburg

Otto Wallburg
Otto Wallburg
Born
Otto Maximilian Wallburg

(1889-02-21)21 February 1889
Died29 October 1944(1944-10-29) (aged 55)
Other namesOtto Wasserzug
OccupationFilm actor
Years active1926 - 1938

Otto Wallburg (21 February 1889 – 29 October 1944) was a German actor and Kabarett performer.[1] He was a prolific film actor during the late silent and early sound era. He was arrested by the Nazis when they occupied the Netherlands and was killed in Auschwitz in October 1944.

Wallburg was born Otto Maximilian Wasserzug in Berlin, the son of a Jewish banker. He drifted into stage acting, but served in the German Army during the First World War and was wounded on the Eastern Front after winning an Iron Cross. From 1926 onwards he worked in the large German film industry, including many productions made by UFA.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he left Germany and moved to Austria where he continued to work in film. He later moved to France and then on to the Netherlands. He was arrested following the 1940 German invasion of the Netherlands. He was held for a while at Westerbork transit camp, and later deported to Auschwitz where he was murdered towards the end of October 1944.