Musikalische Gewalt in den nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslagern

In the organizer's words:

This evening is dedicated to a facet of Nazi history that is still little illuminated. Many people are aware of the function of cultural life in the Theresienstadt camp or the history of the song "Die Moorsoldaten". However, the situation is different with those aspects that are not directly linked to impressive artistic achievements or resistance on the part of the prisoners. The terms "musical violence" (Juliane Brauer, historian) or "musical sadism" (Alexander Kulisiewicz, "camp singer" and historian) reflect this flip side. These are not effective exaggerations: in the hands of the SS teams, music became an instrument of torture.
Be it in the form of the dreaded forced singing, the sound of "national flute tones" in the camp grounds or the background music for executions. The lecture aims to provide information on how music was used as a means of terror, how it was incorporated into the process of extermination through labor, and even made it function more smoothly.
Based on the seemingly paradoxical sentence "In Auschwitz, those in power promoted culture to a certain extent" (Gabriele Knapp, historian), the lecture concludes with reflections on the extent to which common notions of art and culture reach possible limits in the face of "musical sadism". Playing music for a lecture of this kind is a balancing act. It must not be a balm for the soul after the terrible historical facts. So Elisa Lapan and Paul Schuberth play pieces by Józef Koffler, Jean Wiener, Hanns Eisler and Paul Abraham, among others, sometimes as a contrast, sometimes for clarification.

The Mitteilungen der Alfred Klahr Gesellschaft contains a contribution by Paul Schuberth on the subject of musical violence in the camps: https://www.klahrgesellschaft.at/Mitteilungen/Schuberth_1_22.pdf

Paul Schuberth (*1994) is an accordionist. In addition to projects such as "trio akk:zent", "Belofour" and "Duo Vakkordeonioline", he has performed with Paul Gulda, Otto Lechner, Bratko Bibič, Thomas Gansch, Bertl Mütter, Andrej Prozorov, Christopher Haritzer and Jelena Popržan, among others. He also publishes articles on cultural-political and social issues in magazines such as Augustin, Versorgerin, konkret, Phase 2, Volksstimme and Jungle World.

Elisa Lapan (*1996) is a saxophonist, conductor and music teacher. She completed her bachelor's degree in classical saxophone with a focus on jazz saxophone at the ABPU in Linz and continued her master's degree in saxophone and ensemble conducting at the Royal Academy Of Music, Aarhus (Denmark). Elisa is a member of SAX OF(F) ON and Orginel² & Saxobefont. In addition to her busy concert schedule and successful participation in competitions (Musica Juventutis, 3rd place at the international Louis Spohr woodwind competition in Kassel), she works as a saxophone teacher at the Music School of the City of Linz and holds workshops on sound painting.

Thomas Ebermann is a publicist; his most recent publications are Störung im Betriebsablauf, Hamburg 2021 and Linke Heimatliebe. Eine Entwurzelung, Hamburg 2019. In recent years, he has been a guest in Bremen with stage performances such as Heimat - Eine Besichtigung des Grauens (2019) and Herbert Marcuse - Der eindimensionale Mensch wird fünfzig (2014).

Elisa Lapan: lecture, saxophone
Paul Schuberth: text, lecture, accordion
Thomas Ebermann: lecture, reading