The ''Encyclopedia of Jews in Music'' (''Lexikon der Juden in der Musik'') was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-sponsored encyclopedia first published in Germany in 1940, which listed people involved in the music industry who were defined under Nazi racial laws as 'Jewish' or 'half-Jewish'. It was edited by

Herbert Gerigk Herbert Gerigk (2 March 1905, Mannheim – 20 June 1996, Dortmund) was a German musicologist, notable for his co-authoring of the Nazi '' Lexicon of Jews in Music''. After graduation in 1928, Herbert Gerigk published in 1932 a thesis on Giuseppe ...

and

Theophil Stengel Karl Theophil Stengel (12 July 1905 – 9 October 1995) was a German chorus master, composer and Nazi musicologist, notable for his co-authoring of the antisemitic ''Encyclopedia of Jews in Music''. He was born in Bodersweier, Kehl and died in ...

and published in Berlin in 1940 by Bernhard Hahnefeld, with official support from the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

's "

Institute for Study of the Jewish Question The Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question (german: Institut zum Studium der Judenfrage) was founded in 1934 and was affiliated with the Reich Ministry of Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels. In 1939 the institution was called "Anti-Semitic A ...

". The book's subtitle declared that it was produced "on behalf of the national leadership of the Nazi Party for official reasons, partly officially certified documents". The encyclopedia appeared in the context of Nazi policies which repressed

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

involved in music and forbade the performance of works by Jewish composers. A similar encyclopedia by Hans Brückner, entitled ''Musical ABC of Jews'', had previously been published in 1935. The encyclopedia's coverage was very broad, covering musicians, musicologists, librettists, conductors, music publishers and other people linked to music who were considered "Jewish" or "

Half-Jew The term Halbjude (English: Half-Jew) is a derogatory term for people with a non-Jewish and a Jewish parent. The overwhelming majority of the so-called half-Jews were legally classified as " first-degree Jewish hybrids" during the era of Nazi Germ ...

ish", as well as listing forbidden "Jewish" works. It was kept up to date via informers and the staff of the "Sonderstab Musik" of the

Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg The Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce (german: Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg or ''ERR'') was a Nazi Party organization dedicated to appropriating cultural property during the Second World War. It was led by the chief ideologue of the Nazi Par ...

. According to the

Eva Weissweiler Eva-Ruth Weissweiler (born 14 February 1951 in Mönchengladbach) is a German writer, musicologist and non fiction writer. Life Weissweiler entered the Mönchengladbach State Girls' Grammar School in 1961, where she graduated in 1969 (Abitur). Sh ...

's 1999 book, the encyclopedia appeared in five editions - the first had 380 pages, the third (1941) 394 pages, (1943) and the final edition (12th to 14th thousand printed copies) had 404 pages of listings. It was one of the proscribed books in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

Bibliography

: ''Ausgemerzt! Das Lexikon der Juden in der Musik und seine mörderischen Folgen''. Dittrich, Köln 1999, (Includes a facsimile of the complete original edition). * Fred K. Prieberg: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945''. CD-ROM-Lexikon, Kiel 2004. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Encyclopedia Of Jews In Music Antisemitic publications Jewish German history German music 1940 non-fiction books Jewish musicians Jewish classical composers