THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Grasping at Hours of Freedom: Musical Life in the Terezin Concentration Camp A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Karen Lin Uslin Washington, D.C. 2015 Grasping at Hours of Freedom: Musical Life in the Terezin Concentration Camp Karen Lin Uslin, Ph.D. Director: Andrew H. Weaver, Ph.D. This study focuses on the primary documents from the Terezin concentration camp that discuss the musical and cultural life that occurred there between 1941 and 1945. The documents discussed include music critiques and an essay by composer Viktor Ullmann, an essay by composer Gideon Klein, diaries of Philipp Manes, Willy Mahler, Pavel Weiner, Gonda Redlich, and Ruth Brösslerová, poems and magazine articles by children in Terezin, and a letter by inmate Otto Brod. Founded by Emperor Joseph II as a fortress in 1780 and later turned into a military garrison town, Terezin became a concentration camp in 1940 after Nazi officials removed its Aryan residents. Designed as a holding camp to transport Jews from the Czech lands and prominent Jews from the Third Reich to the death camps in Poland, Terezin’s inmate population included musicians, actors, academics, and visual artists. Despite the horrors surrounding them, the inmates of Terezin created a cultural life that rivaled any major European city during World War II. Academic lectures, plays, operas, cabarets, and recitals all contributed to an active and varied cultural society within the camp. The majority of research on Terezin’s musical life up to this point has focused on specific composers (such as Viktor Ullmann and Gideon Klein) or on musical compositions written about Terezin within the last twenty to thirty years. Published material on Terezin includes history texts and survivor memoirs, but little in-depth scholarly analysis has been conducted on Terezin’s musical life. While survivor memoirs from after the war provide valuable information, certain issues arise with these materials; some of the memoirs written long after the war contain incorrect information and others interpret occurrences during the war in light of current information. Examining these documents will give the musicological and historical fields a better understanding of Terezin’s musical life and how it affected the lives of the inmates. It will also shed light on an aspect of music in the Third Reich that has been severely neglected. This dissertation by Karen Lin Uslin fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Musicology approved by Andrew H. Weaver, Ph.D., as Director, and by Christina Taylor Gibson, Ph.D., and Murry Sidlin, M.M. as Readers. _________________________________ Andrew H. Weaver, Ph.D., Director _________________________________ Christina Taylor Gibson, Ph.D., Reader _________________________________ Murry Sidlin, M.M., Reader ii DEDICATION In memory of Rafael Schächter, Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Klein, and all of the musicians from Terezin who never made it home. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE ......................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: WRITINGS OF MUSICIANS: THE DOCUMENTS OF VIKTOR ULLMANN AND GIDEON KLEIN ..............................................................................37 Introduction ............................................................................................................37 1.1 Life of Viktor Ullmann ....................................................................................38 1.2 Ullmann’s Writings ..........................................................................................41 1.3 Life of Gideon Klein ........................................................................................55 1.4 Article on musical culture in Terezin ...............................................................56 Conclusion .............................................................................................................64 CHAPTER 2: WRITINGS OF GERMAN INMATES: THE DIARIES OF PHILIPP MANES AND WILLY MAHLER ..................................................................................66 Introduction ............................................................................................................66 2.1 Life of Philipp Manes ......................................................................................66 2.2 Writings of Philipp Manes ...............................................................................68 2.3 Willy Mahler: Life and Diary Excerpts ...........................................................92 Conclusion .............................................................................................................97 CHAPTER 3: WRITINGS FROM THE CHILDREN’S HOMES .............................99 Introduction ............................................................................................................99 3.1 Lives and Education of Children in Terezin ....................................................99 3.2 Children’s Poems ...........................................................................................104 3.3 Vedem Magazine ...........................................................................................107 3.4 Diary of Pavel (Paul) Weiner .........................................................................118 3.5 Diary of Ruth Brösslerová .............................................................................131 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................137 CHAPTER 4: OTHER DOCUMENTS AND DIARIES FROM TEREZIN ............139 Introduction ..........................................................................................................139 4.1 Otto Brod Letter in the Jiří Lauscher Collection ...........................................139 iv 4.2 Egon “Gonda” Redlich and His Diary ...........................................................145 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................158 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................159 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................168 1. Viktor Ullmann essay “Goethe und Ghetto” .......................................................168 2. Viktor Ullmann Music Critiques .........................................................................170 3. Dates of Performances in Terezin ........................................................................232 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................238 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been possible without the assistance and support of so many people. First, I have to thank the Pamatnik Terezin Memorial (especially Petra Pěničková, Eva Němcová, Iva Gaudesova, Martina Šiknerová, Dr. Jan Munk, and Prof. Vojtěch Blodig) for all of their help and assistance throughout this process. It is thanks to their tireless help that I located many of the documents used in this dissertation and their support has been invaluable. Many other archives assisted me in my research. My thanks goes also to The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the archivists at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam. Finally, I must thank the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam (especially Julie- Marthe Cohen) for allowing me access to their library and archives as well. My thanks must also be given to Henrike Bartels and Allison DeKorte for their assistance in editing my German translations and to Thad Garrett for his assistance in formatting this dissertation. I must thank the Terezin survivors and their families who took me into their hearts, their homes and shared their stories with me over the years; in particular Marianka Zadikow, Katja Manor, and the late Otto Grunfeld. I have to give special thanks, however, to Edgar and Hana Krasa and the entire Krasa family. Your love and support over the years has meant the world to me, and during times when researching and writing this dissertation became difficult, your calls and emails helped me move forward. Words are inadequate to express the love and gratitude I have for you all. vi To the Defiant Requiem Foundation (Murry Sidlin, Louisa Hollman, Mark Rulison, Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat, and the late Dr. Amy Antonelli) thank you for your support over the years and for allowing me to be a small part of this amazing organization. I have to single out Professor Murry Sidlin, who has been a constant support since my first day as a doctoral student at Catholic University. Thank you for your friendship and your faith