August 07, 2007

Jewish works found in Hitler's personal record collection

Relatives of a Russian officer who looted Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945 have unearthed the Führer's personal record collection among his belongings.

What they found does not make sweet music to those who still worship the racial quackery of mankind's greatest tormentor. For amid the Wagner and the Beethoven, were works by Jewish and Russian composers - Hitler's greatest enemies - including Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Borodin.

Throughout the 12-year lifespan of the Third Reich, Hitler forbade his followers to listen to anything other than German composers. Even jazz was banned as "negro swamp music" and orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic were forbidden from playing anything other than Teutonic classics. The rest Hitler labelled "sub-human music"

Now the pillaged recordings, taken by a Red Army officer, Besymenski, after Berlin fell in May 1945, show that Hitler was a hypocrite as well as a monster.

Besymenski, himself a Jew, was fluent in German and conducted the interrogation of Field Marshal von Paulus after the Sixth Army was destroyed at Stalingrad in 1943. When Berlin fell, the Russian officer was despatched with others to make an inventory of artefacts in the bunker and Hitler's destroyed Reichschancellery above it.

While his comrades set about recording - and pilfering - the monogrammed silver and swastika-embossed porcelain, Captain Besymenski noticed that many cabinets had special locks and were still sealed.

Years later, he wrote these words: "They were all packed with paperwork indicating they were to be sent to the mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden. Among electrical appliances and things like washing machines, were the records."

According to Alexandra Besymenski, his daughter, her father kept the records as souvenirs and first showed them to her at the family dacha outside of Moscow in 1991. The much honoured history professor and lecturer at the Moscow Military Academy kept them in the loft at the dacha at Nikolina-Gora.

"I stumbled across them as I was looking for a football," his daughter Alexandra told Der Spiegel.

The family thinks that the Russian captain hid the records, which bear the stamp "Führer headquarters" across them, because he did not want to be thought of as a common looter.

Not that it was not common practice for the Soviet military elite to take home the spoils of a war that cost 26 million Russian lives: Marschall Zhukov, the victor of Stalingrad and Berlin, took home 55 classical oil paintings, seven boxes of valuable porcelain and silverware, nine gold watches and 713 silver ornaments pilfered from the castles of Potsdam.

But the records were both a sense of shame and pride for the music-loving Besymenski who died two months ago, aged 86. During his life, he played them for himself and a small clique of trusted friends.

Now Alexandra has revealed the story of how Adolf Hitler's record collection came to be in the hands of his sworn enemy.

The usual Hitler favourites are there; Beethoven's rousing Ninth Symphony, the Flying Dutchman by Wagner, several works by Brahms, Schumann and Mozart.

But the discovery of the recordings of Russians and Jews show that Hitler did not practice what he preached to his people. There are works featuring prominent Jewish soloists, including Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman and the voice of Russian baritone Fyodor Shalyapin on a recording of Mussorgsky's Death of Boris Godunov.

Many of the records are scratched, indicating they were played over and over again while the war that Hitler began cost millions of lives across Europe and the wider world.

"I think my father found it astonishing that millions of Jews and Russians had to die because of the ideology of Hitler and here he was all the time enjoying their art," said Alexandra.

Alexandra said will make a decision over what to do with the collection of several hundred records in the coming months.

Independent

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"show that Hitler was a hypocrite as well as a monster"

Just like Griffin

Anonymous said...

Nick Griffin is using the BNP for his own moneymaking purposes which is why he falls out with anyone who threatens to expose his financial affairs.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Nick Griffin has any Bob Dylan in his CD collection?

Antifascist said...

'I wonder if Nick Griffin has any Bob Dylan in his CD collection?'

God knows but I'd be willing to bet he doesn't listen to the shite turned out by Great White Records. Download it and weep.

Anonymous said...

These are the same people that told us jews were turned into gloves and lampshades made from human skin and that factories melted people into soap- COME-ON.

The 2 records going around on Griffins turn-table must be 'Backstabbers' and 'Money Money Money'.

Anonymous said...

"These are the same people that told us jews were turned into gloves and lampshades made from human skin and that factories melted people into soap- COME-ON."

What the fuck does that mean? Is thast pro or anti-nazi?

Anonymous said...

Watch out, nazi trolls are about... (both of the pro and nti-Grifin variety).

Why do the BNP scumbags spend too much time on here rather than Stormfront?

Anonymous said...

Why do the BNP scumbags spend too much time on here rather than Stormfront?

Simple - to much time spent on "Stormfront" and the Nutzies end up with RSI of the wrist.

Anonymous said...

This is a top site,much more amusing than stormfront.

Anonymous said...

why do the bnp scumbags spend so much time on here.......

reason is on stormfront the words/letters are too close together and their fingers cant read them.

Anonymous said...

"'I wonder if Nick Griffin has any Bob Dylan in his CD collection?'"

Who knows but he does have the very Jewish Strauson family bloodline that ended with his Daddy Edgar when he married a Gentile.

The Strausons came from Germany in the late 16th century before changing their name to Strawson in around 1642 if that helps.

Anonymous said...

The article in the Spiegel didn't speak of jewish composers, just of jewish interpreters.

Anonymous said...

"There are works featuring prominent Jewish soloists, including Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman and the voice of Russian baritone Fyodor Shalyapin on a recording of Mussorgsky's Death of Boris Godunov."

Perhaps that is just clumsily written, but it suggests that "Shalyapin", usually transliterated Chaliapin, was Jewish. He wasn't.