History & Inspiration

"Entartete Musik" was the label given by the Nazis to a wide variety of composers and musical genres as part of their propaganda machine. "Entartete" or "degenerate" signified something abnormal about the arts that was perceived as a threat to German society. The music targeted was enormously varied, as were the lives and backgrounds of the composers. The "target" criteria established by the Nazis included either elements of jazz, atonal music, or most insidiously and specifically, any music written by Jewish composers.

The Entartete program became a policy of censorship that supported the ethnic and political cleansing of German society. Some of the targeted artists like Schoenberg, Weill and Waxman were able to flee to the US to make new lives for themselves. Others were not so fortunate; many exceptionally gifted artists were imprisoned in concentration camps like Theresienstadt (Terezín in Czech) and eventually murdered.

Terezín existed with a dual purpose. Primarily, it was a concentration camp that served as a transit point to Nazi death camps. It also became the backdrop for a carefully constructed Nazi propaganda campaign to deny the existence of the Final Solution. Here they incarcerated some of Europešs most gifted artists, musicians, composers and writers who, despite the inhuman living conditions, sustained an active cultural community. Composers such as Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Hans Krása and Viktor Ullmann were prized pupils and assistants of musical luminaries Leos Janacek and Arnold Schoenberg. These artists all pursued promising careers as composers and conductors before their incarceration and eventual execution. Notably, both the Philadelphia and Boston Symphony Orchestras had performed some of Krásašs works before the time of his imprisonment.

Although art supplies, musical instruments and performances themselves were contraband in the barracks, inmates struggled to express themselves through art. At first, concerts were held secretly in the attics and basements of the barracks. Ironically, the Nazis later co-opted and used these very activities as part of a plan to deceive the international community and Jews living under German occupation. Performances were staged for a visit of the International Red Cross; the camp was transformed info a Potemkin-like village (with gardens, playgrounds and an outdoor music pavilion) for a propaganda film. It was all designed to give the impression that Terezín was a łParadise Ghetto˛. But of the 140,000 people transported to this "paradise", 33,000 died from starvation, lack of medical care, disease and torture. Of the 87,000 people transported from Terezín to the Nazi death camps, five percent survived.

By highlighting the legacies of these artists, TCMF works toward several important goals. Our archives and research encourage and assist scholarship in musicology and Holocaust studies. TCMF concerts and recordings insure that this repertoire will find its place in the performance repertoire for future generations of artists and audiences. Perhaps most important is the social legacy of these artists. Their music and history are powerful tools in the ongoing struggle against racism and intolerance.