The Inextinguishable Symphony
Martin Goldsmith tells a compelling story about his mother and father who were Jewish musicians employed at a Kulterbund in Nazi Germany up until 1941. The Judische Kulterbund was created by the Nazis as a "propaganda shield" that they hoped would cover-up their treatment of the Jews. At the same time, only Jewish artists could perform and only Jewish people could attend.
Alex Goldschmidt, Martin's grandfather, operated a prosperous clothing store in Oldenburg, Germany, in the early 1930s, after he had served in the German army during World War I. Gunther, his son, studied flute during his adolescent years, but finally was kicked out of the music school because he was a Jew.
Rosemarie, Martin's mother, took violin lessons from her own father, who had established the Gumpert Conservatory of Music in Dusseldorf, Germany. She and Gunther became friends after they were accepted into the Jewish Kulterbund. But like most other artists employed there, they were Germans first and Jews second. "The world might be at war," it was observed, "but the Kubu (Kulterbund) play-ed on."
However, on Wednesday, November 9th, 1938, the Nazis surprised the Jewish culture in Germany by burning down their synagogues and places of business. Alex Goldschmidt, along with many other Jewish men, was marched down the street to the police department and then to the Oldenburg prison. At the time, the National Socialists said they were only protecting the Jews from angry Germans, but the Jews were billed a billion marks for the damage that was done. The Nazis also justified this destruction as retribution for the murder of a German official in France years before by a dissident Jew.
In 1941, after 8 years of success, the Kulterbund was closed by the Nazis. Gunther and Rosemarie were able to escape to New York City, but their parents, and other artists at the Kubu, were not so lucky. Today at one Kulterbund memorial, it says on its bronze slab "Almost all of those who worked here were murdered in concentration camps."
Martin Goldsmith was born in St. Louis, Ohio, in 1952. Later in the 1950s and 60s, his mother became a member of the Cleveland Orchestra. His father gave up music then, but in his later years felt a great remorse that he had been unable to save his own family.
Martin Goldsmith's excellent account of his parents' years in Nazi Germany and what the Jewish people went through was published in 2000. Martin himself is a senior commentator for National Public Radio.