Martin Goldsmith (3)

This is a biography of George Gunther Goldsmith, the father of the author. Much of the forst third occurs in Germany before Hitler. The second third is also in Germany but during the Hitler period. The final third occurs after the author's parents emigrate to America, first to St. Louis, then Cleveland.

Because the symphony is highlighted as a title, I assumed it was a larger part of the story than it was. It is called the Kulterbund by the author, not the Indistinguishable Symphony and it lasted only about 5 years from origin to disbanding. So I rate this book a 3.5 instead of a 5 for having a misleading title.

I did not purchase it to hear of the Nazi persecution, which I have read some better books on, such as " The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. I was hoping to get more of the orchestra from the other players, not just the parents of the author, and a few friends and a few directors.

Still, it is ok for showing the Nazi persecution of non-Arians, but a little weak on individual musicians during that time with the exception of the author's parents.… (meer)

Subtitled "A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany", this is the story of Goldsmith's parents, who as young musicians found employment, a tenuous safety, and each other, performing with the Jewish Kulturbund, the Nazis' highly regulated arts organization for Jews only, which existed from 1933 to 1942, for the purpose of showing the outside world that Germany was "treating its Jews well", and secondarily for giving the Jewish population a hard-to-resist outlet for artists, actors and other performers. This resulted in a false hope for "normalcy" among some of the intellectual community, and kept many from considering protest or emigration. Goldsmith's parents were lucky enough to plan their escape in time to make the necessary arrangements before all-out war in Europe closed off their options and the Final Solution went into high gear. His grandparents were not so fortunate. It's hard to remember while reading all this that, in spite of the openly anti-Semitic climate in Germany in the 1930's, no one could realize at the time how horrific the situation was going to become. Many German Jews never gave up hope that "this can't get any worse" until it did and it was too late to do anything to save themselves; others arranged to leave the country but were caught in the nets that spread into places they had assumed to be safe havens, such as France and Holland. It's a fascinating read, both uplifting and frightening.… (meer)

Mr. Goldsmith, a long time voice on NPR and XM Radio's Classical music station, writes the tale of his parents' survival in the mostly prewar years in Nazi germany. They emigrated to the US in 1941. While in Germany, they performed in the Kulturbund, an all Jewish orchestra and theater group that was maintained at the whim of Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda. His mother was a violist (not a violinist) and his father played the flute. Along the way, the stories of other family members are told, not all of them have happy endings. They were Jews in a country that operated Auschwitz and Treblinka, among other centers of pure horror. The story was touching on several levels, both good and bad, and is one of the most emotional books that I have ever read.

I really doubt that I'll ever understand the depths of hate that sparked the whole holocaust and underpinned the Nazi Party, but it really boils down to money. The German nation had to pay such a huge indemnity after WWI that it bankrupted their economy. Lets blame the Westerners and the Jews, and our own government at that. Hitler rode that tired old horse as far as he could. Luckily for us, he was both an egomaniac and a strategic dolt, but the stain he left on his adopted nation (he was Austrian and at least a quarter Jewish himself) may never be cleansed.… (meer)