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Magda's Jewish Friend

The unusual friendship between a Zionist and a top Nazi leader's wife.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

: I just saw "Downfall," the
German film about Hitler's
last days in his bunker, and
was so troubled by the image of
Magda Goebbels killing her six
children that I came home to do a
bit more research on her. I under-
stand that some people believe that
Magda, before marrying Josef
Goebbels, was in love with some-
one Jewish. Could this really be
true?

Q

4IN

3/31

2005

32

A: That's the story, and it's an
intriguing one that ends in a mys-
tery. Further, it's not Magda
Goebbels' only close connection to a
Jew.
Magda's parents were unmarried at
the time of her birth, though they
wed soon afterward. The marriage
lasted three years, then Magda's
mother married a Jew named Max
Friedlander (more on his fate later).
Friedlander was essentially assimilat-
ed, though he observed Passover and
Yom Kippur.
Magda, born Catholic, continued
her education at a convent in
Belgium after her mother remarried.
Living near the Friedlanders was a
family named Arlosoroff, who had
come to Berlin after a terrible
pogrom in their native Ukraine. The
Arlosoroffs had a son, Vitaly,
renamed Victor in Germany. Young
Victor was a powerful, charismatic
figure who loved poetry and
Zionism. He later changed his name
to Chaim.
Chaim Arlosoroff studied econom-
ics at Berlin University, where he
became outspoken in his support for
the creation of a Jewish homeland.
When he was 21, he became a repre-
sentative to the Zionist Conference
in London. Arolosoroff would later
come, with Chaim Weizmann, to
the United States, looking for sup-
port for Zionism.
According to author Anja
Klabunde, Magda Goebbel's biogra-
pher, Magda became friendly with
Chaim and even interested in him
romantically. Throughout her life
she would show a penchant for

strong men committed to an ideal,
and that certainly would be the case
with Chaim Arlosoroff (1899-1933).
Magda even began wearing a Magen
David that Chaim had given her,
though Klabunde notes this was
simply because she was attracted to
Arlosoroff's personality, not because
she was interested in Judaism or
Zionism.
The two friends eventually drifted
apart and each married another
(Magda was wed to Gunther Quandt
before marrying Goebbels).
Arlosoroff and Magda did keep in
contact throughout the 1920s,
though, says author Klabunde.
In 1924, Arlosoroff moved to pre-
state Israel, where he became chief
of the Jewish Agency's political
department. Magda divorced
Quandt and met Josef Goebbels,
who would become Hitler's most
devoted follower. (Like Hitler,
Goebbels committed suicide as the
Red Army approached.)
In 1933, Arlosoroff returned for a
visit to Berlin, where he was aston-
ished to discover how popular the
Nazis had become. While strolling
through a bookshop, he noticed a
photograph showing his former
sweetheart, Magda, in a wedding
photo with Josef Goebbels. He was
aghast, ready to collapse, a friend
said.
Arlosoroff hoped to meet up with
Magda while in Germany, but it
never came to be. In fact, Magda
sent a warning to her old friend that
he should immediately leave
Germany.
Magda's stepfather, Max
Friedlander, meanwhile, was deport-
ed to Buchenwald, where he died. It
wasn't the first time Magda refused
to intervene when someone close
needed her help. One of Magda's
best friends from her youth was
Jewish, and she was murdered at
Auschwitz.
Arlosoroff, after his troubling trip
to Germany, followed Magda's
advice and went back to Tel Aviv.
What happened to him there, just
three weeks after returning from
Berlin, has been one of the great
mysteries of Jewish history.
Arlosoroff and his wife were walk-

ing along the beach in Tel Aviv
when a man approached and shot
and killed Arlosoroff.
Soon after the murder, three mem-
bers of an opposing Zionist party —
Abba Achimeir, Abraham Staysky
and Zevi Rosenblatt — were arrest-
ed and charged with the crime. All
three insisted they were innocent.
Achimeir and Rosenblatt eventual-
ly were acquitted, and Staysky ini-
tially was convicted of the murder
and sentenced to death. Later, how-
ever, the case was reviewed and
Staysky was released on insufficient
evidence.
For years there were rumors about
who might have committed the
crime, not just political enemies but
perhaps Arabs. Then, in the mid-
1970s, another theory was suggest-
ed: Goebbels was responsible for
Arlosoroff's murder. According to
this theory, Goebbels sent two
agents named Theo Korth and
Heinz Geronda to kill Arlosoroff.
Though Goebbels certainly was
ruthless, his possible involvement in
Arlosoroff's death has never been
proven, and exactly who killed
Chaim Arlosoroff remains unknown
to this day.

Q:Is it really true as I once heard
that Enrico Caruso said he devel-
oped his singing based on the style
of cantors?

A: Yes, it is true. Caruso (1873-
1921),`born in Naples, was the most
famous opera singer of his time. His
background, however, was extremely
modest. He was the third child of a
machinist and he grew up in pover-
ty. His first voice teacher held little
hope for Caruso's success, and his
early appearances did little to chal-
lenge that view.
Then, in 1894, while singing in
Naples, Caruso suddenly emerged a
star. A tenor, Caruso was among the
first artists to make a voice record-
ing, and to this day critics remark
on the charm and versatility of his
voice.
In his book Enrico Caruso, My
Father and My Family by Enrico
Caruso Jr. and Andrew Farkas, the
tenor's son spoke with Emil Ledner,

Caruso's long-time European impre-
sario. Caruso, he said, spent almost
every Friday evening and rehearsal-
free Saturday at Jewish services
because he discovered that "Jewish
cantors employ a peculiar art and
method of singing in their delivery.
They are unexcelled in the 'art of
covering the voice, picking up a new
key, in the treatment of the ritual
chant and overcoming vocal difficul-
ties that lie in the words rather than
in the music."

Q: I was in the health store the
other day and I'm seeing this
Rooibos tea everywhere. Now
someone tells me this tea was actu-
ally discovered by someone many
years ago, and that someone was
Jewish, to boot. You've got to be
kidding!

A: Nope, no kidding is going on
here. Yes, Rooibos tea is as popular
as it gets, but Rooibos is not really a
tea. It's actually from the aspalathus
linearis plant, not from plants that
traditionally produce tea.
The Rooibos plant, which takes its
name from African slang for the
Dutch words meaning "red bush,"
grows only in South Africa. It's small
and produces tiny, needle-like leaves
which start out green, then turn red
after fermenting.
Rooibos plants produce few seeds,
which pop out when they are ripe.
For many years, natives of South
Africa collected these to use for tea,
but only in 1904 was the Rooibos
tea said to be discovered. At this
time, a Russian immigrant named
Benjamin Ginsberg was living in
South Africa, where he became very
fond of the Rooibos tea. He decided
everyone else would like it too, and
so he began to market the tea
throughout the world.
These days, Rooibos tea is espe-
cially popular thanks to author
Alexander McCall Smith, whose
series of novels, beginning with The
Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency, focus
on Mma Ramotswe, who loves
drinking Rooibos, or as she calls it
"bush tea." ❑

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