re: Jews and Christmas music

[JeffSchan <JeffSchan...>]

<<For about fifteen years, up until her death in 1990, I enjoyed a close
friendship with  Sarah Nomberg-Przytyk.  As an Auschwitz inmate, her
"job" was that of secretary to the infamous Nazi monster (makh shimoy)
Josef Mengele.
In her book, "Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land", she
describes how, at Christmastime, the S.S. officers would sing "Silent
Night" and other Christmas Carols in the shadow of the crematoria.

Where are your warm and fuzzy feelings at now?

Wolf Krakowski>>

Although I tend to despise Christmas music (more below) I think it is
dangerous to categorize music based on who liked it.  My father, a Buchenwald
survivor, loved Wagner, who was held up as the pinacle of Aryan art by the
Nazis.  (They also liked Beethoven, my favorite classical composer.)  Does the
US Navy's commercial use of the music of Aaron Copland (who had trouble during
the McCarthy era) make Copland a running dog lacky of American imperialism?
Art can be used in different ways by different forces, often in a manner
diametrically opposed to the intention of the creator of that art.

As for my views on Christman music, I may have a different experience than
most on this list.  I attended public school in the early 60's and was the
only Jew in my class.  In music class, at Christmas time, I was forced to sing
Christmas carols, praising a messiah I didn't believe in.  Also, at that time,
the Catholic Church still had the position that the Jews killed Jesus.  So, as
the sole representative of Christ-killers in the neighborhood, I would be
harrassed by my classmates at that time of year.  I have been living with (and
subsequently married to) an ex-nun for 16 years and it was only last year that
I was able to stand having a few minor Christmas decorations in my home, more
than 30 years after the fact.

I can understand where Wolf is coming from.  As an atheist, I won't perform
religious music of any nature, although I am more of a composer than performer
these days.  However, I cannot condemn Jewish musicians who do perform in
Christian settings.  As much as I hate the Catholic Church, I also have a
countervailing effect on me.  Although my father was in a Nazi transit camp,
he was able to obtain Aryan papers for his wife and two children.  They
escaped to Warsaw, but were denounced by neighbors.  The Nazis came and took
his wife and daughter.  His son was outside playing and escaped death.  He
survived by scavenging on the street for a while, but was discovered by a
Catholic priest, who took him into an orphanage, thus saving his life.  This
action was certainly not indicative of the majority of the Catholic Church,
but it did happen, and it was not the only instance.

And as for Christmas music, I am glad we are spending only 2 days with my in-
laws this holiday season.

Jeffrey Schanzer