Holocaust Blog Assignment Part 2

In the years of the Holocaust, propaganda was very important. Propaganda was shown in many different ways, from posters, to books, to music. In Germany, propaganda promoting Nazism was everywhere, the most common form being the image of the Swastika. Not only did Germans make sure the pro-Nazi propaganda was influencing people, they also made sure there was no anti-Nazi propaganda. That meant certain books, films, and songs had to be banned from Germany, in order to make sure people weren’t affected by other countries’ views.

The music display contained songs that were popular in Germany, a few being Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Robert Schumann's Fantasia, which promoted the spread of anti-Semitism. Music was a very popular type of propaganda, because it could be sung at rallies and many people could get caught up in the feeling of togetherness. Music was a very easy way for Germany to spread Nationalism. On the other hand, it was also very easy to spread anti-Nazism through songs. Germany banned many songs by different artists, as well as completely outlawing jazz music. The music had to have a German feel to it. Hitler banned them from being played on German radios for many reasons. It could have been because the composer was Jewish, or a member of the orchestra was a Jew. He also banned some composer’s work because he felt it wasn’t “German” enough. An important step to enforcing Nationalism is that everything had to look and sound German. In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author talks about a man named Juliek who he had met during his time in a concentration camp. The man carried his violin with him, and the German officers allowed him to do so, as long as he didn’t play any songs that were banned. Hours before he died, Juliek began to play a song by Beethoven, which was banned in Germany. Elie hints at the importance of music propaganda by saying, “All I could hear was the violin, and it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings” (Wiesel 95). By playing the music outlawed in Germany, Juliek showed anti-Nazism until the very end. That moment was so powerful, it stayed with Elie forever, and many years later, when he hears the song, he can still see the vision of Juliek “bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (Wiesel 95).