![]()
"I have at last learned the lesson that has been forced upon me during this year, and I shall not ever forget it. It is that I am not a German, not a European, indeed perhaps scarcely a human being (at least the Europeans prefer the worst of their race to me) but I am a Jew."--Arnold SchoenbergAfter the horrors of World War I, most Europeans expressed their sense of freedom by embracing the roaring twenties. A decadent lifestyle was emerging from the nightlife of jazz clubs and cabarets. Berlin was at the heart of the bold and innovative music trends of the 1920s and 1930s. Musicians experimented with their art by pushing away from accepted musical forms and finding new ones.
While many Europeans were celebrating new-found freedom in the arts, Germany was already beginning to fall under the shadow of the swastika. For almost 100 years, an atmosphere of antisemitism had been growing in Europe. Richard Wagner, the well-known composer, had spoken publicly against the Jewish people in his booklet, Das Judebthum in die Musik (Judaism in Music). The Nazi Party played upon these historic prejudices in their rise to power.
Nineteenth-century psychologists introduced the term degenerate or entartete
to describe any deviance or clinical mental illness. Later a broader definition was applied to include scientific literature (medical, biology and anthropology). By 1933 Hitler's Third Reich referred to the mentally ill, communists, Gypsies, homosexuals and Jews as subspecies of the human race. The words "Jewish," "Degenerate," and "Bolshevik" were commonly used to describe any art or music not acceptable to the Third Reich. The Nazi propaganda poster at left is a crude exaggeration of the original poster for the opera Jonny spielt auf. This grotesque figure became the Nazi symbol for all they considered "degenerate" in the arts. Hitler envisioned the day when German culture would be free of "morbid excrescencies of insane and degenerate men."
The Reichsmusikkammer registry was completed in 1940 and included all musicians' race and religion. Those Jews who had escaped detection up until 1940 were now in jeopardy. It was easy to find and arrest Jews based on this list. The following composers were considered "degenerate" by the Nazi regime.
Berthold Goldschmidt (1903-1996) was a prominent Jewish composer and conductor who had experienced harassment as a Jew even before Hitler came to power. He escaped to England in 1935. He stayed in obscurity until the 1980s when his work was again recognized internationally.
A short biography of the composer.
Review of Ernst Krenek: The Man & His Music by John L. Stewart.
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) Though Schoenberg emigrated to the United States just after Hitler came to power in 1933, he understood what it meant to be persecuted and what lay ahead for the Jews who did not leave Germany. He foresaw the decimation of the Jews, and tried to get the public's attention. His agenda stated 1) antisemitism must be stopped; 2) a united Jewish party must be created; 3) unanimity in Jewry must be priority; 4) an independent Jewish state must be created. It is no wonder he drew the hatred of Hitler and the Nazis. He was telling the world that Hitler was dangerous before Hitler had a stranglehold on the German people.
The Legacy of Arnold Schoenberg: his music, artwork, and writings along with photographs, a videography, bibliography, and related links.
The Bruno Walter page at Great Conductors Online.
The Anton Webern page at Emory University.
| Ghettos & Camps | Reich Music | "Degenerate" Music | Response | Teacher Resources | A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2000.