Re: Germans and Klezmer

[elliott <enr01...>]

Apropo the Warsaw ghetto. It is a very noteworthy but well hidden fact that the
Warsaw ghetto heldout against the Germans LONGER  than the   WHOLE COUNTRY OF
FRANCE.
        ellllllllllllll

Leopold Friedman wrote:

> Marvin,
> Punishment is God's prerogative.
> Forgiveness was the prerogative of
> those who suffered and died. We may
> not presume to act for them.
>
> I am just asking those well-meaning
> (for the most part), talented German
> musicians to refrain from intruding in
> Yiddish culture if they wish to claim
> any sensitivity to human feelings.
>
> Incidentally, if you were a soldier who
> "fought back," I don't think you should so
> carelessly repeat that the victims of the
> Holocaust didn't fight back, no matter
> how little thay had in the way of weapons.
> The Warsaw ghetto rose up without help
> from the neighboring Poles or the Americans
> and, somehow, partisans did what they could
> to a degree that exceeded efforts of other
> "occupied" nations.
>
> Josh, Ari,
> Whatever their motives, however great
> their virtuosity, however innocent and
> well-meaning they may be as our fellow
> human beings, they must recognize that
> the results of their efforts will likely
> be received as painful intrusions by those
> of us who have "organic" connections to it.
>
> As an American, I feel contrite about the
> atrocities committed in American history
> (l'havdil), and I wouldn't presume to
> intrude in Native American cultural
> activities, for example. And, Ari, I don't
> think you should bring up Deir Yassin
> (or even Etzion) in the same breath as
> the Shoah. If all atrocities are equal,
> then denying Germans the moral "right"
> to play Klezmer music would be morally
> equivalent to what?
>
> The argument seems to be that playing
> Klezmer music is a basic human right to
> which these (German) human beings are
> just as entitled as any ployni ben ployni.
>
> I wouldn't deny anyone any human right;
> I simply want their "Klezmer" music "out
> of my face." I enjoy the music of German
> musicians when they play music that is not so
> closely tied to this specific Jewish culture
> which their nation/society nearly succeeded in
> destroying.
>
> Perhaps such a concert at the site of the
> planned Berlin memorial would entice the
> mayor of that city to attend. Perhaps a
> concert at a street naming organized to
> honor Marlene Dietrich or another German
> anti-Nazi artist would be a nice gesture.
>
> I am German born, so I guess I have the
> right to be a Klezmer musician, too.
> Leopold Friedman
>
> ------Original Message------
> From: "Marvin" <physchem (at) earthlink(dot)net>
> To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> Sent: February 28, 2000 3:17:28 PM GMT
> Subject: Re: Germans and Klezmer
>
> This has been a most significant topic for discussion.  The Torah speaks of
> punishing the sins the sons for generations for the sins of the father, but
> I see that as the prerogative of G*d to judge that isn't allowed to mankind.
>
> My experience as a soldier in WW II was in the Pacific, and I hold no grudge
> against Japanese, even though there has been nothing much in the way of
> apologies from Japanese leaders.  I hold a grudge against the Germans of my
> generation who claim they had no idea of what was being done to the Jews,
> and especially for those who took part in nay way.  I have no grudge in
> general against younger generations.
>
> I am aware that my experience as a soldier - who had the means to fight
> back - is very different from the experience of the victims of the
> Holocaust.  I don't fault any surviver who can't find it in his heart to
> forgive the children of their oppressors.
>

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