Salon.com > WWII

New research reveals nearly half of Vienna Philharmonic musicians tied to Nazi party during WWII

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:00:00 +0000

The Vienna Philharmonic, considered to be one of the best orchestras in the world, confirmed a long-held suspicion today when the prestigious institution revealed that it once had strong ties to the Nazi party.

After mounting political pressure, the Philharmonic commissioned a group of independent historians to examine the orchestra's archives between years 1938-1945. The report reveals that in 1938, 13 musicians were dismissed for either being Jewish or married to Jews, and that by 1942, 60 out of 123 musicians identified with the Nazi party, reflecting a higher percentage of Nazi sympathizers within the organization than among the Austrian population.

The report also explains that the orchestra became an instrument of propaganda for the Nazi party, including its famous New Year's Day concert. The anti-Jewish sentiment continued after the war as well; only 10 Nazi sympathizers were forced to leave the orchestra after the war ended.

The greatest bookseller of all time: “Shakespeare and Company owns me”

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000

George Whitman reopened Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris in the 1950s after the WWII Nazi occupation closed Sylvia Beach’s beloved store. In the Beach era, Shakespeare and Company had been a haven for the Lost Generation, and under Whitman’s guidance, it became a hub for Beat Generation writers like William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Whitman created an open-door policy for writers to sleep in his shop by night in return for their labor during store hours. He called them Tumbleweeds, and that tradition continues to this day. A few years ago, George retired, and handed over the reins to his daughter Sylvia Whitman. Last year, I took a trip to see George. He’d had a fall that morning, and Sylvia wasn’t sure if I should go up. But she checked in on him, returning with a vibrant smile, and led me up three flights of stairs and into his cozy room where George lay in bed. His bright sky-blue eyes instantly struck me — they were identical to his daughter’s — as did his sharp wit. The bookseller died a year ago today, at the age of 98. This is the last known interview with him.

George, what has it been like to own the world’s most famous bookshop?

The spy game: “No men need apply”

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:51:00 +0000

“Skyfall,” the new Bond movie, is being hailed as the superannuated old franchise’s most feminist installment yet, thanks to its well-drawn female characters and only light sexism from Daniel Craig’s 007, as opposed to the ass-slapping, comically patronizing misogyny of yore. But next time around, the filmmakers might want to consider actually portraying modern reality by changing Bond’s gender. Women, the head of Mossad has proclaimed, are surpassing men in the espionage game, exhibiting markedly superior skills of endurance, perception and multitasking. It’s an appraisal with which Mike Scheuer, the first chief of the CIA’s dedicated al-Qaida tracking unit, would concur: The capture of al-Qaida higher-ups after 9/11 directly resulted from the efforts of his all-female investigation squad. “If I could have put out a sign on the door that said ‘No men need apply,’ I would have done it,” he remarked recently. And of course, it was the forensically detailed intelligence gathered by “Jen,” the agency analyst who spent years tracking Osama bin Laden, that finally led a team of Navy SEALs to his secret compound in Abbottabad.