Re: Harmonica family Jewish ?

[allen watsky <awatsky...>]

 Josh, I have seen the Star on pre war 270's ,their smaller chromatic. Its
there. There is some talk of another star variant that I have not seen. But
the Star of David does appear on the instruments till '39.. AW
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joshua Horowitz" <horowitz (at) budowitz(dot)com>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2002 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: Harmonica family Jewish ?


> Matthias Hohner was born in 1833 and died Dec 11, 1902. He was a
watchmaker
> by trade. The firm was founded in 1857 with 2 co workers. They began by
> making mouth harmonicas, and Matthias forbade his sons to make accordions
> until after his death, a decision which almost ruined the company. The
> cultural history of the accordion (especially in Germany) is very
> convoluted.
>
> There is a photo of Hitler on a lake being regaled by an accordion player
in
> 1936, smiling. There was a large accordion movement in Germany before
1938.
> In spite of its widespread popularity and its utilization of accordions
for
> playing Schubert's unfinished Symphony  and myriad other classical works
by
> various youth groups it was first forbidden by the Joede Movement, led by
> Wolfgang Stumme, but there were heated arguments as to whether it should
be
> encouraged or forbidden.
>
> The blockade existed mainly against the instrument in the Hitler Jugend
> (Hitler Youth Movement). Here it was forbidden as of 1938. On the one
hand,
> its popularity could not be ignored (as it could potentially be utilized
> propogandistically). On the other hand, it should not "popularize and
> degrade" the works of the great German masters (Haydn, Beethoven, Wagner.
et
> al).
>
> In 1942, the Hohner Academy was accredited as a "State School." The Hohner
> family did much officially to endear themselves to the Nazis. If there is
> any documentation of the Hohners being Jewish, bring out the documents.
I've
> never seen a star of David on an old Hohner, has anyone else? Josh
>
>
> >From: "allen watsky" <awatsky (at) nj(dot)rr(dot)com>
> >To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> >Subject: Harmonica family Jewish ?
> >Date: Sun, Feb 17, 2002, 1:59 PM
> >
>
> > Hello Folks, I was just wondering if anyone knows if the Hohner family
of
> > Germany was or is Jewish. There's been some talk on the Chromatic
Harmonica
> > list that the Star of David that was on their harmonica cover plates was
an
> > indication of their Jewishness. Others say it was merely a design
element.
> > It was ordered removed by the National Socialists in 1939.  Its one way
to
> > date older instruments.Any one have a clue?, or actual documentation.
> > Thanks Much , Al Watsky
>
>
>

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