THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
EVENING RUSSIAN LANGUAGE CLASS
PURELY COMMENTARY
Robert Stolz
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new classic was born, per-
formed by immortals like
Marlene Dietrich and
Richard Tauber? If I die this
second, I think, at least I
have accomplished this
much.
And, perhaps most all all,
there were my soundfilms. My
THE UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT 927-1025
•••
LOOK FOR
Two Hearts In Three-Quarter
Time score had ushered in
Robert and Einzi Stolz
Only a few months ago, a
Stolz record, Blumenlieder, con-
sisting of 29 songs, acquired
best-selling status in his native
land and throughout Europe as
added recognition of his notable
contribution to music.
The Stolz history includes a
period of suffering under
Nazism and the succor that was
provided him by his second wife,
Einzi, who shared his activities
for many years and who con-
tinues to encourage the
popularization of his music on
records and the story of his life.
The Barbed Wire Waltz: The
Life of the Last Waltz King" is a
moving story, a 324-page book
by Aram Bakshian Jr.
This book has just been issued
as a paperback in Austria, Ger-
many and Switzerland under
the title "Die Ganze Welt ist
Himmelblau."
Robert Stolz, anti-Nazi not
only in spirit but also in action,
was among the persecuted
whose very life was threatened.
When Stolz became a victim
of the Nazis, his fourth wife bet-
rayed him. Einzi came into his
life and the genius of Stolz
gained global recognition.
In the prologue to The Barbed
Wire Waltz Stolz provides a re-
cord of his suffering, recollec-
tions of his youth as well as his
confrontation with Herman
Goering, one of Hitler's chief
associates. Stolz wrote:
The darkest day of my life,
and almost my last. I see it
through the haze of a burn-
ing fever that scorches it into
my memory forever.
Under a cold, grey sky, in a
driving rain, I am one of
seventy thousand prisoners
in a converted soccer-
stadium with no shelter, no
heating. We huddle together,
but each of us is alone, alone
in a hostile foreign land.
By the third day of my in-
ternment, I have given up all
hope of release and, to make
matters worse, I have come
down with pneumonia.
Well, Robert, I think, this is
the last act, Finis. Das ende.
The curtain is coming down,
without music, without songs,
without encore. Just mud,
fever and desolution — a
messy finale, Herrgott, for a
man whose melodies the
whole world is still singing
and dancing, to me, a man
who was the toast of the film
and theatre world just a few
months ago! The cool rain-
drops trickle down my
forehead and cheeks, but I
can barely feel them. My
head is on fire. The shifting
clouds seem to form a famil-
iar shape from long ago ...
the great, rambling old house
in Graz where father and
mother conducted their
music school and where I
spent my happy childhood
more than half a century be-
fore.
How many other young
musicians had the privilege
of knowing the galaxy of
great composers I had met
when still a youth — Johann
Strauss, Johannes Brahma,
Anton Bruckner, Engelbert
Humperdinck and other
friends of my father? How
many others had revelled in
the elegant pleasures of Vie-
nna during the twilight of the
Habsburg Empire, conduct-
ing the finest operettas, com-
posing some of the most
popular songs, enjoying the
company of the most beauti-
ful women and even becom-
ing a friend of the last Kaiser
— the melancholy, ill-fated
Kaiser Karl. Even as I lie
there in the mud I still wear
the brilliant-studded stickpin
he gave me, bearing his im-
perial cipher. How many had
lived in the vortex of that
vital nerve center of the arts,
the Berlin of the 1920's and
19307s, where every cabaret
and theater sizzled with ta-
lent, and every week some
Friday, October 4, 1985 31
the golden age of the German
movies. Until the outbreak of
the war, Two Hearts in Three-
Quarter Time and some of my
other films were the only real
competition for Hollywood.
I cannot suppress a wry
smile. The bulky figure of
Hermann Goering enters my
tormented mind, overdressed
as usual, his broad chest
blazing with medals and de-
corations. I hear the words
he said to me a few years be-
fore at one of the gala pre-
mieres that lit up the UFA-
Palest in Berlin. Flashing
electric lights above the title
proclaimed "The Newest
Robert Stolz Film."
Goering grinned — that un-
forgettable grin that gave
him a kind of sinister charm
so lacking in most of his grim
partners in power.
"Ah, Herr Stolz," he said, "I
know that you have had a
few hard things to say about
the Reich, but in spite of
yourself, you are one of Ger-
many's greatest weapons.
Your music in our conquer-
ing German films has
marched across the world,
and it has been victorious
everywhere!"
I was about to say some-
thing I probably would have-
regretted when, with a flick
of his cigarette holder, Goer-
ing laughed and lumbered off
in pursuit of one of the ac-
tresses — an auburn-haired
young beauty who had
caught his eye during the
premiere.
They had praised and
encouraged me, these men of
the Third Reich. They had
even tolerated critical things
I had said and which 'infor-
mers constantly reported
back to them. For as long as I
could, I had used their
tolerance as a shield to lend a
helping hand to banned fel-
low artists and to smuggle
Jewish and political refugees
out of Germany.
Now, twenty months after
the Anschluss and my own
flight from conquered Au-
stralia, the transformation is
e. I am a prisoner
complet
and a pauper, arrested as an
enemy alien without papers,
and interned by the French
authorities.
Stolz will never be forgotten
for the following rescue efforts:
During the early years of Nazi
domination, he was asked by a
friend to assist a woman who
.wanted to flee from Germany.
She was without any means and
had no identifying papers. Her
husband was imprisoned. Stolz
hid the woman and her two
The sale of products made or grown in Israel is
vital to her economy. Let us all LOOK FOR AND
BUY those products. Although various stores
offer Israeli merchandise, Farmer Jack Markets
appear to carry a larger variety in the food line.
When you shop, make it a point to seek out and
buy products of Israel.
BERNARD EDELMAN
THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND OF DETROIT
Invites you to attend their
"TREE OF LIFE" DINNER
Honoring
DEAN E. RICHARDSON
'
In Recognition of his Leadership to the People of
Michigan and his support of the State .of Israel.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2% 1985
CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK
27375 Bell Road, Southfield
Dinner: 7 pm
•
GERALD GREENWALD
RICHARD D. ROHR
Cocktails: 6 pm
Dinner co - Chairmen: JOSEPH E. DeCAMINADA
FRANKLIN J. ELLIAS, President JNF Detroit
Couvert: $150 per person
For reservations and further information, call the
Jewish National Fund
557-6644
Continued on next page
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