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The Effect of Richard Wagner’s Music and Beliefs
Wagner family had not yet aligned themselves with Hitler’s party, they
did shortly thereafter when he rose to greater power. For instance,
Winifred wrote these words in an open letter:
Everyone in Bayreuth knows that we enjoy friendly
relations with Adolf Hitler. . . . His personality has made
a profound and moving impression on us, as it does on
everybody who meets him. . . . I admit frankly that we
too are under the spell of this personality, and that we
too, who were behind him in happier times, will now
stand by him in his hour of need.
37
Winifred and Siegfried Wagner’s devotion can be seen even more clearly
in a letter written by Winifred in 1924 while Hitler was imprisoned,
which reads, “No other man has ever played such a role in our lives as
Hitler does—he must be a powerful personality—for how else can you
explain such passionate reverence and dedication? Either he will rescue
us, or they will allow him, delicate as he is, to perish miserably in his
prison-house! But if they do—then woe to Germany!!!”
38
In addition to
the words of support, Winifred even wrote him letters and sent him gifts
while he was imprisoned as a source of encouragement.
39
It is difficult to ignore both Richard Wagner’s anti-Semitic views and the
many ties between him and Adolf Hitler. Through his political writings
and his operas, it is made clear that Wagner desired a pure German race
and thought less of the Jews. Furthermore, several memoirs show that
Hitler did not only love Wagner’s music, but he also had a strong
connection with Wagner’s immediate family while in political office.
These things arguably helped form many of his opinions and political
ideologies. With this in mind, the association between Wagner and the
Holocaust is difficult to deny. Even though Hitler had many influences,
the evidence is clear: Wagner’s ideas helped inform and shape Hitler’s
views, thereby playing a role, albeit a small one, in the Holocaust.
37
Hamann,
Winifred Wagner
, 67-68.
38
Ibid., 74.
39
Ibid., 72.