Recommended books & documentaries on Third Reich music

[Fallersleben]

Christian Berger
Klassik unterm Hakenkreuz
Der Maestro und die Cellistin von Auschwitz
Deutsche Welle, 2022

English version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvoT8QANp8I

Why was classical music so important to Hitler and Goebbels? The stories of Jewish cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Auschwitz, and of star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who worked with the Nazis, provide insight.

The film centers around two people who represent musical culture during the Third Reich - albeit in very different ways. Wilhelm Furtwängler was a star conductor; Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the cellist of the infamous Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. Both shared a love for the classical German music.

The world-famous conductor made a pact with Hitler and his henchmen. The young woman, brought to Auschwitz for being Jewish, was spared death for her musical talent. While Furtwängler decided to stay in Germany and make a deal with the devil, Lasker-Wallfisch struggled to survive the brutality of the death camp, with a cello as her only defense. Why did gifted artists like Furtwängler make a pact with evil? Why was classical music played in extermination camps? And how did this change the way victims saw music?

German music was used to justify the powerful position the Third Reich claimed in the world, and to distract listeners from Nazi crimes. In addition to Beethoven, Bach and Brucker, Richard Wagner was highly valued, because he was Hitler’s personal favorite. Hitler understood the power of music, and his chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels was in charge of music in the Nazi-controlled state.

This music documentary by Christian Berger features interviews with musicians like Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann; the children of Wilhelm Furtwängler; and of course 97-year-old survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Her memories are chilling. Archive film footage, restored and colorized, brings the story to life, and bears witness to an agonizing chapter in history.

[Jerard Maiki]

Thank you very much for sharing!

[Ivan Ž.]

Thanks for sharing, F., and good to see you back

The lady cellist, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, also appears in the excellent documentary Wagner & Me, starring Stephen Fry.

Cheers,
Ivan

[ozzy9]

Some of my fav books and documentaries that provide an in-depth look at the role of music during the Third Reich:

Books:
"Music in the Third Reich" by Michael H. Kater
"The Third Reich: A Musical History" by Richard Evans
"Hitler's Music" by Michael H. Kater

Documentaries:
"Hitler's Hollywood" (2017) directed by Rüdiger Suchsland
"The Sound of Hitler's Reich" (2011) directed by John Farren
"War of the Worlds: The Music of Nazi Germany" (2003) directed by David R. Gill and John Farren

It's worth noting that many of these works focus on the role of music in Nazi propaganda and its use to further the regime's ideology. It's also important to critically evaluate the information provided and consider the perspectives of the authors and filmmakers.

[Fallersleben]

Musik-im-NS-Staat.jpg (95.94 KiB) Viewed 959 times

Fred K. Prieberg
Musik im NS-Staat
Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag 1982

Dieses Buch ist die erste systematische politische Musikgeschichte der Jahre 1933-45 in Deutschland.

Aus dem Inhalt:
Kumpane und Widerständler, Säuberungen noch und noch, Musik unter dem Davidstern, Tonkunst - Deutsch bis ins Mark, Ein Sommernachtstraum - arisch, Musik als Staatsaktion, Persönlichkeiten, Musik für Jugend, Volk und Formation, Erfolge und Mängel, Musik macht Staat.

[Ivan Ž.]

Thanks for the new recommendations and a welcome to member ozzy9.

Edit, 03.11.2023: A post by a sock puppet account of user heinrich-pg has been removed, pursuant to the forum rules, point 8.

Cheers,
Ivan

[heinrich-pg]

Musik-und-Drittes-Reich.jpeg (86.18 KiB) Viewed 865 times

Ulrich Drüner; George Günther
Musik und "Drittes Reich"
Böhlau Verlag 2012

Musik und »Drittes Reich«
In der Musik beginnt das ‚Dritte Reich’ nicht erst 1933 und endet nicht wirklich 1945. Dies ist die Einsicht, wenn man die Musik der Zeit von 1900 bis 1960 studiert. Der Band ist aus einem Antiquariatsprojekt von etwa 700 Dokumenten entstanden und begnügt sich nicht, wie bisher üblich, die musikalischen Makrostrukturen des ‚Dritten Reichs’ anhand von 30 bis 40 Titeln zu illustrieren; vielmehr wird in breiter dokumentarischer Fülle den Fragen nachgegangen, aus welchen Traditionen Musik und Musikwissenschaft der Nazis kamen, worin ihre ideologisch-ästhetische ‚Eigenart’ besteht und wie sie nach 1945 weiter wirken. Ferner wird die ‚Entartete Musik’ und die auf ihre Autoren gerichtete ‚Eliminierungs-Literatur’ sowie die Musik in Exil und Emigration dargestellt. Viele Dokumente zeigen in erschütternder Direktheit, mit welchen Problemen die Musiker jener Zeit konfrontiert waren.

[heinrich-pg]

Alfred Roth
Das nationalsozialistische Massenlied
Koenigshausen & Neumann, 1993