Ilse (Intrator) Stanley (née Ilse Davidsohn), ((1906-03-11)March 11,
1906 â€" (1970-07-21)July 21, 1970), was a German Jewish woman who,
with the collusion of a handful of people ranging from Nazi members of
the Gestapo to other Jewish civilians, secured the release of 412
Jewish prisoners from Nazi concentration camps between 1936 and
1938.During that time she also helped countless others leave the
country while it was still possible for German Jews to do so legally.
This story was sketched publicly in 1955 on Ralph Edwards's television
program, This Is Your Life, and is told in vivid detail in Stanley's
autobiographical book, The Unforgotten, which was published in the
United States in 1957.Ilse was born in 1906 in the small mining town
of Gleiwitz, Germany. The family moved to Berlin when her father,
Magnus Davidsohn, was named as the main cantor at the new
Fasanenstraße Synagogue being built in the Charlottenburg section of
Berlin. The first time she entered the still-unfinished building, Ilse
fell deeply in love with this synagogue (which she called "my House")
and her life became thoroughly entwined with this synagogue. As a
child of six she had the honor of presenting flowers to the German
Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm, when he came to dedicate the new temple,
which opened on August 26, 1912.Ilse graduated from the
Auguste-Victoria-Schule (in Charlottenburg) at the age of fifteen.
After graduation she continued to study theatre history and theatre
science at the Theatre Science Institute and at the Berlin University,
while working part-time as a bookkeeper and office manager. Later she
studied acting and directing at the Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater
(Berlin) and elsewhere. Using the stage name "Ilse Davis", her primary
interest was in acting on the stage, although she also played bit
parts in several films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Her
interest and ambition broadened to include directing and producing,
and in 1929, just after turning twentythree, she opened her own
theatre organization. In this endeavor she handled everything from
theatre production, promotion and publicity, to public relations; she
also ran an Academy where entrants were taught acting, directing, and
production.
1906 â€" (1970-07-21)July 21, 1970), was a German Jewish woman who,
with the collusion of a handful of people ranging from Nazi members of
the Gestapo to other Jewish civilians, secured the release of 412
Jewish prisoners from Nazi concentration camps between 1936 and
1938.During that time she also helped countless others leave the
country while it was still possible for German Jews to do so legally.
This story was sketched publicly in 1955 on Ralph Edwards's television
program, This Is Your Life, and is told in vivid detail in Stanley's
autobiographical book, The Unforgotten, which was published in the
United States in 1957.Ilse was born in 1906 in the small mining town
of Gleiwitz, Germany. The family moved to Berlin when her father,
Magnus Davidsohn, was named as the main cantor at the new
Fasanenstraße Synagogue being built in the Charlottenburg section of
Berlin. The first time she entered the still-unfinished building, Ilse
fell deeply in love with this synagogue (which she called "my House")
and her life became thoroughly entwined with this synagogue. As a
child of six she had the honor of presenting flowers to the German
Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm, when he came to dedicate the new temple,
which opened on August 26, 1912.Ilse graduated from the
Auguste-Victoria-Schule (in Charlottenburg) at the age of fifteen.
After graduation she continued to study theatre history and theatre
science at the Theatre Science Institute and at the Berlin University,
while working part-time as a bookkeeper and office manager. Later she
studied acting and directing at the Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater
(Berlin) and elsewhere. Using the stage name "Ilse Davis", her primary
interest was in acting on the stage, although she also played bit
parts in several films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Her
interest and ambition broadened to include directing and producing,
and in 1929, just after turning twentythree, she opened her own
theatre organization. In this endeavor she handled everything from
theatre production, promotion and publicity, to public relations; she
also ran an Academy where entrants were taught acting, directing, and
production.
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