By
Jewish and Neo-Nazi Music
Commemorating Kristallnacht
In the autumn of 1938,
Hitler's storm troopers began a pogrom – an
organized, national campaign of
violence on a mass scale - against German
Jews. Jewish homes, businesses
and synagogues were attacked, looted and
burned. Across
or religious identity. This
night came to be known as Kristallnacht
(literally
Night of Crystal)- The Night of Broken Glass. The name is
fitting. It denotes the sounds of
glass breaking from the looting of
thousands of Jewish storefronts and
the smashing of the windows of all
Jewish owned businesses in
Holocaust
in which primarily six million Jews were to lose their lives.
It was one of history's
worst nightmares, and no one in
else in the world rose up to
stop it. In cities throughout
9, 1938, with meticulous
cruelty and German efficiency, nearly 300
synagogues were burned, 7,000 Jewish
businesses and homes destroyed and
30,000 Jews rounded up and
sent to concentration camps. This Night of Broken
Glass, or Kristallnacht, was of course, only the beginning of the
horror
that was to befall our people.
There have been many
attempts to commemorate Kristallnacht in music, song,
and dance. Musical remembrances
are not limited to the
an international day of
solidarity. They remember the victims of the
Holocaust and highlight the
plight of today's victims of discrimination,
especially refugees and asylum
seekers. Past commemorations of the
"Kristallnacht"
pogrom were particularly strong in
Youth Action for Peace (YAP)
organized a campaign against religious
intolerance and racial discrimination
that included discussions in schools,
a film screening, a concert
of Jewish music and interviews with “survivors
In the
in
moving dance, was performed. The
music was commissioned by West German radio
to commemorate the fifty-third
anniversary of this grim occasion. The
performance began in silence, as the
audience entered to find two figures
staring intently at the street
outside. The audience faces the theater's
huge wall of factory windows and
the eerie yellowish crime lights outside
the theater. A low brick wall
divided the dance space, with a vast screen
stage right sometimes hiding the
percussion section of the orchestra. The
orchestra’s playing was often augmented
by the crashing sounds made by
dropping breakable objects from
alarming heights off stage, and the sound of
the shofar
crying out. An arresting chorus of sounds that ranged from the
prayers of Yemenite Jews at the
Wailing Wall and a bar mitzvah recitation to
unlikely quotations from Verdi's ``Va, pensiero'' (from ``Nabucco'') and
Strauss' ``On the Beautiful
Blue Danube,'' dominated the dance performance.
Like the horrifying
experience of the real Kristallnacht, the score and
the
choreography it inspired are fragmented
and disturbing. All but one of the
dancers was dressed in black. The
exception wore a concentration camp
uniform. Two women touching hands
brought images of the loss of loved ones.
Another outstanding musical
work commemorating Kristallnacht was written by
John Zorn in 1993. It was entitled Kristallnacht
as well. The seven parts to
this work are entitled as
follows: 1. Shtetl (Ghetto Life) 2. Never Again
, 3.Gahlet (Embers),
4.Tikkun (Rectification), 5.Tzfia (Looking Ahead),
6.Barzel (Iron Fist), and 7.Gariin
(Nucleus - The New Settlement)
Unfortunately, not all,
contemporary music treats Kristallnacht with the
sanctity and reverence that it
deserves. The old Nazi racist message of
Kristallnacht has found popular
acceptance and re-expression through modern
Neo-Nazi
music.
Neo-Nazi bands are active in
and have a large following. Key
themes are white power, violence and
anti-Semitism.
Neo-Nazi bands have
developed a following in the North East of England.
Fortunately, mainstream
European newspapers have recently exposed many Neo
Nazi band
members.
Two of the most active bands are Blood and Honor and
White
Noise. Blood & Honor is the name that Nazi music
and many neo Nazi
bands have come to be known by.
Another Neo-Nazi band is the Warhammer in
Kristallnacht has become a favorite night
for these bands to perform.
Warhammer, previously called Nordic
Warrior, specializes in Nazi lyrics with
songs like Kristall,
Kristall, Die Jew Die, and This is
Local venues, bars and clubs
have given Nazi bands space to play and the
opportunity to recruit followers. Local
supporters make considerable effort
to promote performances and
keep them secret from the law and from local
anti-fascists. Neo-Nazi bands often
attempt to hide the true nature of
bookings from venue owners and
managers and through deception are able to
obtain bookings.
Throughout
of dollars from the sale of
records and other merchandise.
to White Noise and to Blood
and Honor networks that organize concerts and
finance recordings. Though Neo-Nazi
music is a minority taste, their
followers are prepared to travel long
distances to meet at secretly
organized concerts.
A rough estimate of the
number of white power bands operating in the
major money earner with
"Blood and Honor" funding the
political activities
and lifestyles of the far
right. The sale of records, CDs and other
merchandise is understood to raise over
£1 million per year for racist
activities, as well recruiting for
Nazis groups.
The Anti Defamation League
recommends that we be vigilant about Neo-Nazi
music, so it doesn’t find
prominence in the
information about the real intended
activities of Blood and Honor or White
Noise
bands is
really important if we are to stop nazi racism and violence.
Information will allow
police, clubs, venue owners or managers to be alerted
to their illegal activities.
Contact them if you have information. Don’t let
them turn Kristallnacht
into a Rock Band holiday.
On a personal note- Marcia and I want to thank you all for your
Mazel Tov
wishes in honor our new grandson -
Pinchas Doveed, in English,
David born to
our son Saul and his wife Leah.
Now there one of each!!
Sincerely,
Cantor Elihu
Feldman