Martin Roman
Martin Roman (23 April 1910 – 12 May 1996) was a German Jewish jazz pianist and Holocaust survivor. At the time of the Reichstag fire in February 1933, Martin was stopped by SS men at the entrance to the huge Vaterland emporium in Berlin, where his band, the Marek Weber Band, was employed. He left for the Netherlands.
Martin Roman
Milan Kuna: Musik an der Grenze des Lebens. Musikerinnen und Musiker aus böhmischen Ländern in nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslagern und Gefängnissen. Übersetzung Eliška Nováková. Überarbeitung · Public domain
- Name
- Martin Roman
- Born
- 23 April 1910
- Died
- 12 May 1996
- Birthplace
- Germany
- Occupation
- Jazz pianist
- Known for
- Holocaust survivor; Theresienstadt ghetto musician
- Nationality
- Germany · United States
- Fields
- jazz
- Languages
- German
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Documentary summary
Martin Roman (23 April 1910 – 12 May 1996) was a German Jewish jazz pianist and Holocaust survivor. At the time of the Reichstag fire in February 1933, Martin was stopped by SS men at the entrance to the huge Vaterland emporium in Berlin, where his band, the Marek Weber Band, was employed. He left for the Netherlands.
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gnd · 1154540979 · museum · 38c5b1a8-2e50-4648-a3f7-76c75de28a30 · wikidata · Q24041 · wikipedia · Martin Roman
In this article
Biography
Biography
In January 1944 Roman was transported to Theresienstadt concentration camp. In the summer of 1944, he was forced to participate in a propaganda film in Theresienstadt which the commandant Karl Rahm had coerced the actor Kurt Gerron to direct. Roman appeared leading his Ghetto Swingers. When the filming was over Roman and Gerron were sent to Auschwitz, where Gerron perished. Like jazz drummer and guitarist Coco Schumann, Roman survived. Gerron and clarinetist Fritz Weiss of the Jazz-Quintet-Weiss did not. Roman's "Wir reiten auf hölzernen Pferden" was recorded on the album Terezín - Theresienstadt, by Anne Sofie von Otter.
Martin Roman Ghetto Swingers Theresienstadt 1944 Standfoto aus dem Film Theresienstadt
Milan Kuna: Musik an der Grenze des Lebens. Musikerinnen und Musiker aus böhmischen Ländern in nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslagern und Gefängnissen. Übersetzung Eliška Nováková. Überarbeitung
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Martin Roman • Born — 23 April 1910 • Died — 12 May 1996 • Birthplace — Germany • Place of death — Germany • Occupation — Jazz pianist • Known for — Holocaust survivor; Theresienstadt ghetto musician
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1910
Martin Roman born at Berlin.
1996
Martin Roman died at Emerson.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Berlin.
Birth place
Emerson.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Martin Roman”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q24041: Martin Roman
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Martin Roman
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1154540979, Martin, Roman.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Cross currents: No.7 University of Michigan. Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan. Center for Russian and East European Studies - 1988. "In 1944 Martin Roman came to Terezin; he had played piano with the celebrated German orchestra, the Marek Weber Band, and because he was transported to the ghetto so late, had had an opportunity to follow the latest jazz developments.
- 2.F. C. DeCoste, Bernard Schwartz The Holocaust's ghost: writings on art, politics, law, and education, 2000 pg. 79. "Hiding out in Amsterdam in a rented room in 1943, Berlin swing pianist Martin Roman was rudely awakened by a knock on the door one morning."
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Martin RomanMetaBrainz Foundation
Institutional witnessauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1154540979, Martin, Roman.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Martin Roman is recorded as pianist, songwriter, composer and musician.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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