Hans Hagen was born in Berlin, the son of a
German Jewish economist, banker, bank archivist, and anti-fascist activist,
Hermann Carl Hagen. His mother, Hedwig Elise Caroline Staadt, was a German Christian. He attended boarding school in
Switzerland, which he had to leave after completing elementary school. His brother Karl-Heinz Hagen worked as editor-in-chief for a number of German publications. In 1937, he travelled to Spain to volunteer with the
International Brigades, which fought on the side of the
Republican government of Spain against the fascists under
General Franco, but was turned down because of his young age. He then moved to France, where he worked in
Marseille, among other places. He was employed as a dock worker. From 1940 on he lived in
Berlin and was active in the resistance against the Nazis. In 1941 he was arrested by the police during an illegal leaflet campaign and imprisoned in the
Moabit prison, where he was subjected to Nazi human experimentation. He was captured and tortured while trying to escape from the
Dahlem Manor, where he was employed as a prison harvest worker. In 1945 the
Soviet Red Army stormed and liberated Moabit Prison. Hagen's father, Hermann, was murdered in the special campaign against Jews on 27 and 28 May 1942, an act of revenge by the Nazis after the assassination attempt on
Reinhard Heydrich. Along with 500 other German Jews selected arbitrarily, Hagen was abducted from Berlin and taken to the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he was murdered on 29 May 1942. His mother Hedwig was also murdered at Sachsenhausen. He worked as a freelance journalist and author from 1952. Following the end of World War II, Hans Oliva-Hagen lived in
East Berlin when it was administered by the Soviet Union, and joined the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany. In 1963, the East German Communists sought out a "Communist
Brigitte Bardot" to represent East Germany. Oliva-Hagen wrote in the East German publication
Sonntag that the Soviet zone needed "a star who attracts audiences like Bardot" and who reflected the "Socialist way of life of our people". He was later expelled from the party due to criticism, initially working in radio and press administration. On 4 May 1954, he married actress
Eva-Maria Hagen in Berlin. The marriage ended in divorce in 1959. Their daughter
Catharina "Nina" Hagen, born on 11 March 1955, stayed with her mother after the divorce. Nina became a singer and actress. Nina's daughter
Cosma Shiva Hagen also became an actress. ==Filmography==