Klarinet Archive - Posting 001083.txt from 2000/12
From: "David S. Naden" <dnaden@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Wlach the Nazi?
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 19:28:20 -0500
David--
Like you (I assume), I happen to be Jewish, and have an obvious hate toward
the Nazis. HOWEVER...you have provided no proof that Wlach was a Nazi.
Your evidence in the last post is circumstantial at best, and without
further confirmation, amount to nothing more than hersay.
You state that Rudolp Jettel's widow claimed that Wlach was a member of the
SS, yet there is NO PROOF. All of your other statements show that Wlach was
anti-semitic, but that is a far cry from being a Nazi.
Austria has been a hot-bed for anti-semitism for hundreds of years, and it
is a well-known fact that many of the most sadistic SS officers in Hitler's
Nazi regime were Austrian.
All I ask is that you provide definitive proof of these statements before
you cast dispersions on an individual. We can all agree Wlach was
anit-semitic. However, we can not all agree that he was a Nazi.
David S. Naden
-----Original Message-----
From: HatNYC62@-----.com]
Subject: [kl] Re: Wlach the Nazi?
In a message dated 12/20/00 4:00:18 AM, klarinet-digest-help@-----.org
writes:
<< What evidence do you have that Wlach was a Nazi? Not that I'm doubting
your
word; I would just like to know your source of information. >>
I was wondering whether anyone would ever ask. When I was preparing to
record
some works by Rudolph Jettel (coprincipal clarinetist of the VSOO/VPO along
with Wlach), I received a copy of a letter written by Jettel's widow from a
former Jettel student. In the letter, she described the situation in Vienna
during the Nazi era. She happens to be Jewish, and Jettel kept her hidden
from the authorities. Wlach knew this, and was constantly trying to get
Jettel to turn in his own wife!
In addition, he would not let Viktor Polotschek (former principal
clarinetist
of the VSOO/VPO, then with Boston) sit in with the orchestra during a visit
to Vienna. Polotschek was Jewish, do the math. When Polotschek showed up at
the rehearsal, Wlach made a very obnoxious anti-semetic comment to him
(remember, these two men had been colleagues in the orchestra only a few
years before).
In addition, when Felix Galmir (great violin pedegogue and former VSOO/VPO
member. . .Jewish) joined the orchestra, he was harassed by the Nazi
members,
including Wlach. In the NY Times obituary for Galimir last year, an incident
was mentioned where the "principal clarinetist" of the orchestra was heard
to
ask "Galimir, have you eaten your matsos today?" during the silence before a
concert. That clarinetist had to be Wlach, it certainly could not have been
Jettel!
Mrs. Jettel claims Wlach was actually a member of the SS, I have not been
able to independantly confirm this, but I have no reason to doubt it is
true.
In any case, before the anschluss, there were 25 or so members of the
VSOO/VPO who were Jewish, including the concertmaster. All were expelled and
many died in concentration camps. It's a chapter in the orchestra's history
that is often conveniently overlooked.
Sorry for being such a crab during this festive time of year! I have
actually been in a pretty good mood.
David Hattner, the spirit of the holidays, New York style!
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