Johanna (Hanny) Kolm (Exiner)

Johanna KOLM, born on January 9^th, 1918 in Vienna/Austria (entitled residency ("heimatberechtigt") for Vienna/Austria, citizenship  1938: Austria), daughter of Dr. Adolf Kolm (1882-1934, lawyer) and Margaretha Kolm, née Heidler (1888-1970) (legal guardian after the death of her father: Dr. Hans Heidler M.D., Vienna's 9th district., Frankgasse 1), lived in Vienna's 4^th district, Johann Straussgasse 35/17. She had graduated from the highschool (Lyceum of the Frauenerwerbverein in Vienna) in the summer of 1936 and subsequently began studying medicine at the University of Vienna in the fall term of 1936/37 and was enrolled finally in the spring term 1938 at the Medical School in the 2nd year of her studies (spring term 1938 was validated on October 11^th, 1938).
She had already taken dance lessons since the age of four and, among other things, before and in addition to her medical studies, also completed the four-year dance studies at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Prof. Getrude Bodenwieser and obtained the diploma in modern dance and was also active as a dancer in addition to her studies. In addition to the aesthetic-artistic dance dimension, she also wanted to integrate a medical-therapeutic side with her medical studies.

Although protestant ("evang. A.B.") she was considered "Jewish" by the National Socialists, since her father had belonged to the Israelite religious community at birth (although he had left the IKG long before her birth in 1902, had been adopted by his stepfather Dr. Oskar Kolm in 1910, and had died in 1934 at the age of only 54) she was forced to quit her studies and leave the University of Vienna.

Lit.: Archives of the University of Vienna/enrollment forms ("Nationale") MED 1936-1938; Alisa DOUER & Ursula SEEBER, Wie weit ist Wien. Lateinamerika als Exil für österreichische Schriftsteller und Künstler, Vienna 1995; Liz TELFORD, Dance educator pioneered creative therapy (Obituary), in: The Age, Melbourne, March 17^th 2007; Karen E. BOND. Honoring Hanny Kolm Exiner (1918–2006): Dancer, philosopher, and visionary educator, in: T. Hagood (ed.), Legacy and Dance Education: Values, Practices and People. Youngstown, NY 2008, 99-114; Naomi AITCHISON, About Hanny Exiner, in: Dance Movement Therapy Association Australasia Inc. 2016; Susanne KORBEL u. Philipp STROBL, Mediations Through Migrations: An Introduction on Cultural Translation and Knowledge, in: dies. (eds.), Cultural Translation and Knowledge Transfer on Alternative Routes of Escape from Nazi Terror, New York 2022, 1-26; Hanny Exiner interviewed by Michelle Potter on November 4^th, 1994, ORAL TRC 3164 in National Library of Australia/Oral History and Folklore Collection; Hanny Exiner in: Women of Australia; Johanna Kolm/Hanny Exiner in: Biographia.at; www.genteam.at; www.ancestry.de; www.myheritage.at.

Herbert Posch