Richard Wagner

and the Jews

"You can expel the Jews from Germany, but you cannot expel German culture from the Jews," declared TAU President Professor Yoram Dinstein at the opening ceremony of a unique symposium entitled "Wagner and the Jews," held in Bayreuth, Germany. The Symposium took place within the framework of the 1998 Bayreuth Wagner Festival, and it was held under the auspices of German President Prof. Roman Herzog.

TAU initiated the Symposium, which brought together scholars from Germany, Israel and the US to debate the issues of Wagner and anti-Semitism, Wagner's impact on Nazism, and the long ban on performing and broadcasting his work in Israel. The Symposium gained extensive media coverage in Germany where it was praised as an attempt to "break down the barriers of an emotionally-charged issue."

The Israeli participants explained the ban on Wagner's music in Israel, which is maintained in deference to the demands of Holocaust survivors. Three reasons contribute to this: Wagner's anti-Semitic writings, particularly his treatise Judaism in Music; Wagner's status as the favorite composer of Hitler, who used his compositions as the "theme music" of the Nazi Party; and lastly, the strong association of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus (after Wagner's death) with Hitler and the Nazis.

The ban on Wagner's music in Israel is controversial. World-famous musicians such as Daniel Barenboim and Zubin Mehta, among others, have spoken out strongly for incorporating Wagner's works into the repertoire of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which they argue is limited without Wagner.

Professor Dinstein expressed a similar view: "We are punishing ourselves for Wagner's anti-Semitism. It is impossible to understand the music of the 19th and 20th centuries without knowing Wagner." Prof. Maayani, an expert on Wagner, agreed: "Music was not the same before and after Wagner. You cannot create a cultural ban on art."

In a lecture delivered at the Symposium, Dr. Dina Porat, Head of TAU's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, proposed that Hitler, who had admired Wagner's music with an obsessive passion since the age of 12, used Wagner's operatic medium as the model for his political rallies. "He took the intense drama of Wagner - the fanfare, lights and trumpets - and made himself into the producer and the main hero," she said.

Porat agreed that theoretically, at least, Wagner cannot be blamed for having become Hitler's cultural symbol. After all, Wagner died seven years before Hitler was born. She believed, however, that the symbol Wagner represents is still far too strong and powerful in the minds of Holocaust survivors to be changed by a sudden decision. "As long as there are still Holocaust survivors, their sensibilities should not be offended by playing Wagner on the official channels," she said.

"The 50th anniversary of the State of Israel reopened many controversial issues relating to the Holocaust. There is now a willingness on the part of the Germans to resolve the Wagner and anti-Semitism issue. However, it is not possible to close this issue during this generation - and perhaps not during the next," said Porat.

The Festspielhaus, Bayreuth