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Between Collective Memory and Manipulation: The Holocaust, Wagner and the Israelis

2004; Routledge; Volume: 23; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1353104042000241910

1744-0548

Na’ama Sheffi,

Diverse Musicological Studies

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1 Protocol No. 268, session of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee, 8 May 2001. 2 Following the Committee's meeting, the Israel Festival Board and conductor Daniel Barenboim decided to replace the Wagner concert with another. At the end of it, Barenboim and the Berlin State Orchestra played a short excerpt from Tristan und Isolde, provoking yet another fierce debate about public performances of Wagner in Israel. Finally, the Knesset Culture and Education Committee declared Barenboim to be a “cultural persona non grata” in Israel. See Protocol No. 316, meeting of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee, 24 July 2001. 3 For a detailed discussion on the Wagner debate in Israel, see Na'ama Sheffi, The Ring of Myths: Wagner, The Israelis, and the Nazis (Brighton, Sussex, 2001). 4 The last two decades have seen numerous studies on the shaping of national identities. Outstanding examinations of particular Jewish identity and modes of commemoration can be found in Amos Funkenstein, Perceptions of Jewish History (Berkeley, 1993); and Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (Seattle, 1982). I wish to thank Yosefa Loshitzky for her interesting comment on the formation of national identity. 5 For the public discourse on Holocaust in the early days of statehood, see Yechiam Weitz, “Political Dimensions of Holocaust Memory in Israel during the 1950s,” Israel Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 3 (1995), pp. 129–45. 6 The essay was first published in 1850 under the pseudonym K. Freigedank, and again in 1869 under Wagner's own name, when he was already a successful composer. See Richard Wagner, “Judaism in Music,” in idem, Stories and Essays, trans. C. Osborne (London, 1973), pp. 23–39. 7 This general impression, harbored by many Israeli publicists, is supported by research. See, for example, Joachim Köhler, Wagners Hitler: Der Prophet und sein Vollstreker (Munich, 1997); Paul Lawrence Rose, Wagner: Race and Revolution (New Haven and London, 1992); and Marc A. Weiner, Richard Wagner and the Anti-Semitic Imagination (Lincoln and London, 1997). See also Gottfried Wagner, Wer nicht mit dem Wolf heult: Autobiographische Aufzeichnungen eines Wagner-Urenkels (Cologne, 1997). 8 Despite general testimony by survivors indicating that Wagner's music was played in the concentration camps, two important witnesses give evidence to the contrary. See Fania Fenelon, Playing for Time (New York, 1977); and Moshe Hoch, Hazarah meha-tofet (Return from the Inferno) (Hadera, 1988). 9 On Toscanini, see the biography by Harvey Sachs, Toscanini (New York, 1988), especially pp. 196–269. 10 On the reparations agreement, see Nicholas Balabkins, West Germany and the Reparations to Israel (New Brunswick, NJ, 1971). 11 The attack caused a radical change in press attitudes towards Heifetz. See, for example, Ha-Dor and Ma'ariv on the day after the incident, 17 April 1953. It is important to note that most of the Hebrew press in Israel had taken part in the debate (Davar, Ha'aretz, Herut, Ha-Olam ha-zeh, Ma'ariv, Ha-Boker, Ha-Dor and Yediot Aharonot), as had the non-Hebrew press (Jediot Hadashot, Emeth, Jerusalem Post, Yedi'ot ha-Yom). Reports had also appeared in foreign papers such as New York Post, New York Herald Tribune, Herald Tribune (Paris), and Buenos Aires Herald. 12 The debate erupted after the publication of an article by first flutist and board member Uri Toeplitz on the IPO's plans to play Wagner and Strauss. His original article claimed that: “a change has taken place in the nation's attitude to the exterminators of our people.” The public uproar that followed the article's publication led him to revise the passage to read: “We feel the time has come for a change, not only because of the paramount demands of artistic freedom, but also because the opposition to Wagner has become a mere gesture. Why should we go on denying ourselves some of the greatest music by forbidding the playing of Wagner, a loss that cannot be replaced by the works of any other composer, while a mere convenience like the German Volkswagen, with all its associations from the Hitler era, is allowed to crowd our streets? … Accordingly, this time we must take a rational and courageous stand and allow Wagner's music to be played, thereby reopening the door to works included among the best of the music composed in the nineteenth century.” See Uri Toeplitz, “Al hashivuto shel Wagner” (On the Importance of Wagner), IPO program, June 1966. 13 This time the press discussed the matter for several weeks, and even more extensively; local and special-interest magazines, flourishing at the time, jumped on the bandwagon, as did the electronic media, which had previously avoided the subject. 14 Moshe Zuckermann, Shoah ba-heder ha-atum: Ha-“Shoah” ba-itonut ha-yisraelit bi-tkufat milhemet ha-mifratz (Shoah in the Sealed Room: The “Holocaust” in the Israeli Press during the Gulf War) (Tel Aviv, 1993). 15 The essay appeared in Rina Litvin and Hezi Shelach (eds.), Mi mefahed me-Richard Wagner: Hebetim shonim shel dmut shnuyah be-mahloket (Who's Afraid of Richard Wagner: Different Aspects of a Controversial Figure) (Jerusalem, 1984), pp. 203–18. 16 “Im ha-Richardim o biladehem” (With or without the Richards),” Davar, 1 December 1952. 17 D. Yishai, “Tzlilei ha-nivun bak’u be-yom ha-shoah” (Degenerate Music Burst Forth on Holocaust Memorial Day), Herut, 16 April 1953 (original emphasis). 18 See Arie (Louis) Garb v. Israel Broadcasting Authorities, Supreme Court Appeal No. 6032/00, 24 August 2000; Alther Podlowsky and Gedaliahu Appel v. Rishon Letzion Symphony Orchestra, Miscellaneous Civil Appeals (MCA) 27053/00, 18 October 2000; Alther Podlowsky, Gedaliahu Appel and Israel Silberberg v. Rishon Letzion Symphony Orchestra, MCA 27228/00, 24 October 2000; Alther Podlowsky, Gedaliahu Appel, Israel Silberberg, Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, and Simon Wiesenthal Center Fund v. Rishon Le-Zion Symphony Orchestra, Supreme Court Appeal No. 7700/00, 25 October 2000; Alther Podlowsky, Gedaliahu Appel, Israel Silberberg, Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, and Simon Wiesenthal Center Fund v. Rishon Le-Zion Symphony Orchestra, MCA 6280/01, 4 March 2001. 19 This undated letter was sent by Shmuel Santo, a Holocaust survivor living in Rishon Le-Zion, to the managers of that city's symphony orchestra, right after the performance of the Siegfried Idyll in October 2000. See also Moshe Zuckermann, “Zilut zekher ha-shoah” (The Abuse of Holocaust Commemoration), 7 May 2001, at http://www.y-net.co.il. 20 Dov Shilansky, in an interview to Radio 1, The Voice of Israel, 23 October 1981. 21 Noah Kliger, “Hitehashvut be-regashot” (Consideration for Feelings), Yediot Aharonot, 21 October 1981. 22 See the comment made by the editor-in-chief of Yediot Aharonot, Herzl Rosenblum, in “Le-Zubin Mehta, be-khol ha-kavod” (To Zubin Mehta, with All Due Respect), Yediot Aharonot, 19 October 1981: “This whole problem is an internal problem of our own, a problem that must be discussed inside our own house, and no foreigners, even if they are our friends, should enter into it… . This is also true for our dear friend Zubin Mehta, who loves us with all his soul, and we him, but he read about Auschwitz, and we were taken there… . He must leave us to ourselves, and not try to tell us what to do.” 23 “Higi'ah ha-sha'ah she-Wagner yahzor lihiyot rak muzikah” (The Time Has Come for Wagner to Be Just Music Again), Ha'aretz, 16 December 1991. 24 Interpellation 670, 26 November 1956. A copy of the question and its answer can be found in the IPO Archives, Tel Aviv, Wagner and Strauss file. 25 In his proposal Meirom detailed the history of Wagner's anti-Semitism, noting that the composer had “lived in Germany between the years 1813 and 1883. He was born and grew up in the city of Leipzig. One hundred years later in the city of Leipzig my mother was born, and persecuted.” He went on to explain that the idea of playing Wagner in Israel was wrong, criticizing those “who try to take us out of our provincial attitude and to bring into our home the geniuses who lay the foundations for the racist creed.” Agenda Proposal 1699, submitted by MK Hagai Meirom, Divrei Ha-Knesset, Session 110, 12th Knesset (1990), Vol. 1, pp. 334–6. 26 Heifetz was described as a guest with poor manners, and the editor of Ma'ariv, Dr. Azriel Carlebach, expressed his displeasure in an editorial: “The education minister, Professor Dinur, requested that no Strauss be played. And the justice minister, Dr. Rosen, seconded that request (despite his different personal views on the identification of an artist with his art)… . Yet Jascha Heifetz received the request from two ministers of Israel, shoved it into his pocket, said whatever he said about opposing musical censorship — and refused to comply. He played Strauss in Haifa, and afterwards in Tel Aviv as well.” “Nimusei ore'ah” (Manners of a Guest), Ma'ariv, 13 April 1953. 27 “Pashtuto ha-gluyah shel ha-kavod ha-zeh” (The Overt Simplicity of That Honor), Ha'aretz, 27 December 1991. 28 The Film and Theater Review Board (the state's cultural censor) intervened in the question of whether to allow performances in the German language on Israeli stages following a concert by singer Kenneth Spencer in 1950. The board also sent a memorandum to the IPO before the production of Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler. The Kenneth Spencer affair is described by Itzhak Gilead, “Da'at ha-kahal be-Yisrael al yahasei Yisrael ve-Germaniyah ha-ma'aravit ba-shanim 1949–1965” (Public Opinion in Israel on Relations between the State of Israel and West Germany in the Years 1949–1965) (Ph.D. diss., Tel Aviv University, 1984), p. 32. On the censorship board's request, see letter from the Film and Theater Review Board to the IPO management, 6 May 1952, IPO Archives, “Miscellaneous” file. 29 This sentiment was evident in several articles appearing in the religious press. See, for example: “Ha-hayim bli Wagner” (Life without Wagner), Yom ha-Shishi, 27 December 1991; “Akhshav pog'im gam be-regashot shel hilonim” (Now the Feelings of Secular Jews Are Being Hurt, Too), Yated Ne'eman, 20 December 1991. 30 Israel Nevenzal, “Tzelem germani be-heikhal ha-muzikah” (German Icon in the Temple of Music), Ha'aretz, 15 July 2001. 31 The gradual personification of Holocaust survivors is notable in many art works of the last two decades. See, for example, the growing numbers of personal documentaries, such as Hugo (Yair Lev, 1989); Al tigu li ba-shoah (Don't Touch My Holocaust) (Asher Tlalim, 1994); Ha-banot mi-Libau (Girlfriends) (Yoel Kaminsky, 1994); Abbale bo la-lunah-park (Daddy, Come to the Fair) (Shmuel Vilozhny and Nava Semel, 1995); Shalosh Ahayot (Drei Schwestern) (Tsipi Reibenbach, 1998); and Perla Ahuvati (Liebe Perla) (Shahar Rozen, 1999). This trend is also evident in literature, the most recent example being Amir Guttfreund's Shoah shelanu (Our Holocaust) (Tel Aviv, 2000). 32 On the Grunwald-Kasztner trial, see Yehiam Weitz, “Changing Conceptions of the Holocaust: The Kasztner Case,” in Jonathan Frankel (ed.), Reshaping the Past: Jewish History and the Historians, Studies in Contemporary Jewry, Vol. 10 (1994), pp. 211–30. On the 1950 Law for the Punishment of Nazis and their Collaborators, see Hannah Yablonka, “Ha-hok le-asiyat din ba-natzim uve-ozreihem: Hebet nosaf be-she'elat ha-nitzolim veha-shoah” (The Law for the Punishment of Nazis and their Collaborators: Another Aspect of the Issue of Israelis, Survivors, and the Holocaust), Cathedra, No. 82 (January 1997), pp. 135–52. See also “Law of Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance” (various debates and versions), in Divrei Ha-Knesset, Vol. 11 (12 April 1951), pp. 1655–7; Vol. 26 (10 March 1959), pp. 1385–90, and (8 April 1959), pp. 1992–3. For Knesset debates on the establishment of Yad Vashem, see for example, the growing numbers of personal documentaries, such as Hugo (Yair Lev, 1989); Al tigu li ba-shoah (Don't Touch My Holocaust) (Asher Tlalim, 1994); Ha-banot mi-Libau (Girlfriends) (Yoel Kaminsky, 1994); Abbale bo la-lunah-park (Daddy, Come to the Fair) (Shmuel Vilozhny and Nava Semel, 1995); Shalosh Ahayot (Drei Schwestern) (Tsipi Reibenbach, 1998); and Perla Ahuvati (Liebe Perla) (Shahar Rozen, 1999). This trend is also evident in literature, the most recent example being Amir Guttfreund's Shoah shelanu (Our Holocaust) (Tel Aviv, 2000), Vol. 14 (12 May 1953), pp. 1310–14; (18 May 1953), pp. 1331–53; and (19 August 1953), pp. 2402–9. 33 The open debate took place on 15 November 2001, at the Felicja Blumental Music Center and Library in Tel Aviv. Some of the papers delivered at the conference appeared in Moshe Zuckermann (ed.), Tel Aviver Jahrbuch für deutsche Geschichte (Tel Aviv, 2003).