Barbakoff Tatyana (birth name Edelberg Tsipora) (02.08.1899, Hasenpoth, Courland Governorate – 06.02.1944, Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland) – character dancer, pantomime artist.
Tatyana Barbakoff was born into the family of Isaak Edelberg, a butcher, and his wife Genia.
In 1918, she moved to Germany with a German officer, Georg Waldmann (stage name Marcel Boissier) – a singer, composer, master of ceremonies, and dancer.
Although Barbakoff had no formal dance training, she successfully performed Chinese and Russian dances in cabarets and variety theatres in Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Frankfurt (Germany).
She was portrayed in paintings by artists from the “Young Rhineland” association, including K. Rohlfs, O. Pankok, J. Rübzam, M. Hundt, and G. Wollheim.
Persecution and Death
After Hitler came to power in 1933, she was forced to flee to France, where she performed on the stage of Raymond Duncan's “Academy” theatre (Raymond was the brother of Isadora Duncan).
At the start of World War II, as a citizen of an enemy state, she was interned in the Gurs concentration camp but was released in January 1940.
Fleeing the advancing German army, she escaped to Nice, where she was arrested in January 1944 and imprisoned in the Drancy concentration camp.
In February 1944, she was deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered in the gas chamber.
Legacy
In 1986, in Paris, Y. Tardy-Marcus established the Barbakoff Prize to support young talented dancers.
A section of the Düsseldorf City Museum is dedicated to her, featuring her posters, photographs, and stage costumes.
Literature:
• Goebbels, G. Tatjana Barbakoff. Düsseldorf, 1991. 31 pages.