Although Richard Wagner died in 1883, 56 years before the outbreak of the Second World War, many people, especially the Jews, consider him as the ideological inspirer of the terrible tragedy which is known as Holocaust. Lili Eylon states the there is a direct connection between Wagner and the emergence of the “Jewish Question” in the Third Reich due to the influence of his atrociously anti-semitic articles on the ideologists of Nazism and Hitler in particular.
One of the most famous and controversial articles was written in 1850 and titled “On the Judaism in Music”. This article was first published in the popular German magazine called New Musical Magazine (Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik).
It is obvious that the musical talent of Wagner had a mesmerizing effect not only on the future ruler of Germany but also on many representatives of the intelligentsia who allowed such vivid accusations to be dispersed without any obstructions within German society. However, it is important to understand the nature of Warner's antipathy towards Semites and how Hitler became familiar with Wagner's point of view on this issue.
The above-mentioned article was signed by the K. Freigedank, a pseudonym which Wagner used when he published his theoretical works. Freigedank was the most influential mentor of young Adolph Hitler, especially during the times when he lived in Vienna. The future Fuhrer of Germany absolutely adored the theoretical works of Wagner and even learned them by heart. Freidedank, translated as the “Free Thinker”, was among the first representatives of the intelligentsia who had openly proclaimed the superiority of the Aryan race.
Wagner speculated about the notions of superiority of German race and suggests that the decay of the white races, which were fewer in numbers than the “lower” races, would come from the necessity of mixing “pure” nations with the “inferior” ones. It is quite obvious that Hitler had absorbed these ideas which later have found their realization in the Nuremberg race laws, specifically the Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und Der Deutschen Ehre (Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor). The Articles 1 and 2 of this law forbade the marriages and all kind of intimate relationships between Jews and the subject of the Third Reich.
In his theoretical works, Wagner took a stand in favor of the individual freedom, equality, and justice, but when he touched upon the topic of Jews, his point of view changed in a radical fashion, as he stated that Judaism is the curse of the modern civilization and the Aryan can feel nothing but disgust towards the very nature and personality of the Jews. It is important to understand the cause of such antipathy. Wagner was not the first anti-Semite in the history of mankind, nor was he the first one who vocalized the apprehension regarding the attempts by the Jews to assimilate in the white societies.
By the end of the 18th century, it seemed that they have found the solution to this burning issue. The Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn who lived in Germany and whom Immanuel Kant considered as his best student, founded the new movement that aimed at putting an end to antisemitism in Europe.
Mendelssohn, the member of the family of orthodox Jews, thought that the prime cause of anti-semitic sentiments lies in the fact that Jews are trying to distinguish themselves from the titular ethnic group. They were speaking another language, wearing other clothes, and preached another religion. Mendelssohn thought that if the Jews manage to assimilate, at least outwardly, into the European societies, the persecutions would stop.
He appealed to Jews to make more efforts to integrate into German culture, at least on the general scale, and to dissolve in it. Mendelssohn appealed to them to be Jews at the confinement of their own homes but to be Germans in public. Basically, he propagated the ideology of so-called Jewish enlightenment which became the precursor for the Reformist Judaism which, in the eyes of many German Jews served as the symbol of modernization of the Semitic society in Europe, especially Germany.
The Reformist synagogues have started to resemble ordinary Christian churches, the Hebrew and Yiddish languages were completely taken out of use. The Jews in Germany could no longer be distinguished from ordinary Germans. The Reformist societies made every possible effort to display their loyalty to Germany. From the point of view of Jews, such transformations should have brought the anti-semitic sentiments to an end, but Wagner, and consequently Hitler, had a completely different view on such assimilation efforts.
The purity of the Aryan race was the main concern of Wagner as well as Hitler. They were not overly concerned with French, Italians, or British, because, in their view, those were the separate nations who had their own states, and even those of the who lived in Germany identified themselves accordingly and did not try to become a part of the Aryans. Only German Jews have been making frantic efforts to become true Germans by assimilating into the society. Wagner and Hitler considered it as a grave threat to Germany because such integration might have only lead to the contamination of the dominant nation.
Wagner feared that the growing influence of Jews in the intellectual realm of Germany, with their strive for liberalism and equality, might exert a negative influence on the mentality of the nation. Hitler shared Wagner's beliefs, and the corresponding reasoning served as the basis for the adoption of the Nuremberg legislation which stated that the Jews formed only a tiny fraction of the total population of Germany, but they have made every effort to privatize the cultural realm of the country and to implant themselves in every profession that involves intellectual activity and prestige, such as medicine, finance, and jurisprudence. The impact of the Jewish intelligentsia was nothing more than disintegrating and degrading. Therefore, in order to put halt on the spread of this negative processes, the German authorities would incorporate a clear separation between the Jew and the representatives of the Aryan race.
The paradox was that the more Jews tried to repudiate their language and culture, the more they were hated by the likes of Wagner and Hitler, and the rise of the Nazis to power made the tragedy of Holocaust inevitable.
The works and the ideology of Richard Wagner have asserted a mighty influence on Adolf Hitler who used their energy and symbolism to built one of the most misanthropic political regimes in the history of the world. Hitler has opened the world of German culture and mentality through the works of Wagner which served if not as a prophecy, but certainly as a powerful inspiration for the future chancellor of Germany. He was fascinated by the unusual combination of selfishness, cynicisms, and romanticism found in the works of this prominent composer and thinker. Warner's music was a generalization of everything that Hitler deemed as truly German: rationality, pride, diligence, and ambitiousness.
It was an explosive mixture of mythology, deep emotions, and primeval desires. Antisemitism was another aspect of Wagner ideology that was eagerly adopted by Hitler and cultivated to unprecedented proportions which resulted in the biggest tragedy of the 20th century known as the Holocaust. Wagner's works did not contain any direct instructions or incentives, but it managed to inspire whole nations to embark on the path of self-destruction.
The story of relations between Wagner and Hitler should serve as the lesson to other artists that they can not stay above the politics, and that they should bear a certain degree of responsibility for the messages and symbols that they put in the compositions.
great article.
actually i found it biased and pro semite.