# Jewish Artist's Life in 1930s Berlin > Jewish artist Hannah Sherman's escape from Nazi Germany through art and deception. - Title: Jewish Artist's Life in 1930s Berlin · Foreign Policy - Summary: Jewish artist Hannah Sherman's escape from Nazi Germany through art and deception. Jewish artist Hannah Sherman hides her identity in 1930s Berlin to avoid… - Keywords: hannah sherman, venus vanishing, rebecca birrell, weimar germany, jewish art, nazi persecution, 1930s berlin, jewish identity, art forgery, escape, Jewish, Artist's - Source: Foreign Policy — https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/09/international-fiction-releases-yiyun-li-music-against-night-rebecca-birrell-venus-vanishing - Author: Chloe Hadavas, Allison Meakem - Read time: 1 min - Topics: hannah sherman, venus vanishing, rebecca birrell, weimar germany, jewish art, nazi persecution, 1930s berlin, jewish identity, art forgery, escape ## Jewish Artist Hannah Sherman Hannah Sherman escapes her traditional Jewish mother to pursue art in Weimar-era Berlin. > Hannah Sherman escapes the clutches of her traditional Jewish mother to experience the hedonism of Weimar-era Berlin ## Art Patron Elke Elke, a wealthy client, commissions Hannah’s paintings and becomes her patron. > Elke soon commissions portraits of herself and her friends ## False Identity Hannah uses the name Schmidt instead of Sherman to conceal her Jewish background. > Since moving out of her parents’ house, Hannah had concealed her Jewish background, going by Schmidt rather than Sherman ## Political Ties Elke’s husband holds a position in Germany’s culture ministry, creating political risks. > Elke’s husband is an important figure in Germany’s culture ministry ## Art Forgery Hannah’s paintings are listed as a fictional non-Jewish artist named Answald Dietrich. > They list, without her consent, the artist as a fictional, non-Jewish man: Answald Dietrich ## Nazi Takeover The Führer chooses Dietrich’s paintings as the artistic face of his new Germany. > The newly appointed Führer, Birrell never mentions Adolf Hitler by name, takes a liking to "Dietrich’s" paintings ## Jewish Identity Hannah’s Jewishness becomes central to her identity as Nazi persecution intensifies. > a Jew’s a Jew, even a Mischling ## Marriage to Saul Hannah marries Saul, a Jewish communist, to escape persecution. > When Hannah marries Saul, a fellow Jewish communist, they only become more marginalized ## Anti-Zionist Stance Saul rejects Palestine as a homeland, insisting they already have one. > Saul insisted [Palestine] was someone else’s homeland that the English had declared was ours ## Historical Notes Hannah is a composite figure of Jewish women artists murdered by the Nazis. > The Nazis murdered all three of them ## Counternarrative Birrell writes to offer a story of Jewish life, not Jewish death. > I hoped to write a novel primarily about Jewish life, not Jewish death ## Escape Attempt Hannah and Saul seek to leave Berlin but face increasing danger. > We already had a homeland, he said, and we were already living in it ## Key takeaway Jewish artist Hannah Sherman hides her identity in 1930s Berlin to avoid Nazi persecution, only to face increasing danger as her Jewish heritage becomes central to her survival.