Wilhelm Heckmann (26 June 1897 – 10 March 1995) was a German concert and easy listening musician. From 1937 to 1945, he was imprisoned in the

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

and

Mauthausen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...

. Heckmann founded the first prisoner band in Mauthausen, and was also instrumental in the founding of the large prisoner orchestra there.

Biography

The son of innkeeper Adolf Heckmann, Willi Heckmann grew up in the public house environs of Altena (Westphalia). During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served in the Patriotic Emergency Services and the military. After the war, Heckmann studied vocals and piano with Otto Laugs at the state conservatory in Hagen (

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

). During the 1920s, he was a guest performer as the "Rhineland Tenor" in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

, Altena, Rheydt, Zurich and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He was also a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

musician in the "Zentraltheater" in Altena and the "Thalia" in Wuppertal. During the early 1930s, he was a guest performer in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Gotha and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. Beginning in 1934, the Nazi government implemented a policy of "Gleichschaltung," which brought professional musicians into line according to race. So-called degenerate music ("Entartete Musik") was ostracized and popular,

easy listening music Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, no ...

("Schlager") was promoted. The music magazine "Das Deutsche Podium, Kampfblatt für deutsche Musik" ("The German Podium, Fighting Paper of German Music") increasingly lauded Heckmann: “''… during the course of several months, he has won over a large base of friends and supporters … with his fine, well-trained tenor voice …''” “''… Willi Heckmann – an all-around musical talent … his volume fills the room … piano playing, a pleasant chord, well-trained vocals, Herr Heckmann has it all …''” Additional performances and engagements in Stuttgart, Gotha,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Patenkirchen and

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

followed. On 29 July 1937, the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

suddenly arrested Heckmann in Passau without prior warning and without a warrant. With reference to Paragraph 175 (the homosexual article), he was interrogated and sent into

protective custody Protective custody (PC) is a type of imprisonment (or care) to protect a person from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many prison administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within pri ...

("Schutzhaft") at the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

for a previous episode of homosexuality.International Tracing Service Bad Arolsen, Germany, Reference number: T/D – 526 895. To this day, the exact details of his confinement in the concentration camp remain unclear. Musikkapelle Mauthausen

At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Heckmann was transferred to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria, where he remained until the Allied liberation of the camp on 5 May 1945. In Mauthausen, he worked in the "Viennese Trench" quarry. Beginning around 1940, he was allowed to start up a musical trio, which had to perform a variety of musical styles for high-ranking guests in the casino. When the photography division of the SS photographed the "Gypsy Orchestra" on 30 July 1942 as it was led through the camp together with the recaptured prisoner Hans Bonarewitz, Willi Heckmann was in the front row, setting the tone. To his right (playing the large accordion) is the post office Kapo Georg Streitwolf. Following his visit in the autumn of 1942, Heinrich Himmler ordered the establishment of a camp orchestra, which was assembled "''with the help of Heckmann, Rumbauer and a Czech doctor.''"Josef Jira:''Audio Recording of an Interview with

Hans Marsalek Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

'', 18 April 1972, Linz. Mauthausen Archive of the Ministry of the Interior (BmfI), Vienna Until the liberation of the camp, this orchestra played military marches, as well as popular and serious music on a regular basis. "''Willi Heckmann was the singer and accordion player.''" His participation in the orchestra made Heckmann a kind of functionary among the prisoners, and spared him the harshest jobs in the concentration camp. Instead, he was dispatched to commandoes with easier tasks such as transportation and disinfection. The SS leaders clearly exploited Heckmann's musical talents to emotionally influence life in the camp. Following his release from the concentration camp, Heckmann struggled to regain a foothold as a professional musician. Years of heavy labour in the Mauthausen quarry left him with rheumatism and inflamed nerves in his shoulders and arms, which hampered his efforts to practice his profession. In 1954, he applied for compensation for his time spent in Dachau and Mauthausen. But his application was denied in 1960 with the remark that he was, "only imprisoned as a homosexual because of crimes against Paragraph 175 of the penal code." This did not qualify him for any kind of restitution. From 1945 to 1964, Wilhelm Heckmann worked as a professional musician and solo entertainer in various hotels and restaurants throughout Germany. He died in Wuppertal on 10 March 1995 at the age of 97.

Literature

* Guido Fackler: ''Music in Concentration Camps 1933–1945.'' In: Music & Politics, 2007. * Klaus Stanjek: ''Music and murder – a professional musician in Mauthausen.'' In: Andreas Baumgartner, Isabella Girstmair, Verena Kaselitz (editors): ''The Spirit is free.'' Band 2. edition Mauthausen, Wien 2008, * Kurt Lettner: ''Musik zwischen Leben und Tod.'' In: Oberösterr. Heimatblätter 2000, Heft 1,2; S. 55–72. * Milan Kuna: ''Musik an der Grenze des Lebens.'' Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt/M 1993, * Simon Hirt, Hansjörg Stecher: ''Musik zwischen subversivem Überlebens- und brutalem Terrorinstrument.'' In: Die Aussteller und das Bundesministerium des Inneren (Hrsg.): ''Kunst und Kultur im Konzentrationslager Mauthausen 1938–1945.'' Wien 2007. * Leoncarlo Settimelli: ''La storia angosciosa di una foto terribile.'' In: patria indipendente, 24 gennaio 2010.

References

External links

''Klänge des Verschweigens'' – a documental project
(German)
"SOUNDS FROM THE FOG" film about Willy Heckmann (english)

* ttp://www.anpi.it/patria_2010/001/17-18_LEONCARLO_SETTIMELLI.pdf Leoncarlo Settimelli: ''La storia angosciosa di una foto terribile.'' In: patria indipendente, 24 gennaio 2010.(PDF)
Kurt Lettner: ''Musik zwischen Leben und Tod.'' In: Oberösterr. Heimatblätter 2000, Heft 1,2; S. 55–72.(PDF)

Bayerisches Musiker-Lexikon Online, hrsg. von Josef Focht

Die gebrochene Karriere des Musikers Wilhelm Heckmann (PDF)

Vortrag von Klaus Stanjek in Linz, 2007 „Musik und Mord – ein Berufsmusiker in Mauthausen“ (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heckmann, Wilhelm 1897 births 1995 deaths 20th-century German male musicians Homosexual concentration camp survivors German gay musicians Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Dachau concentration camp survivors People convicted under Germany's Paragraph 175 German military personnel of World War I 20th-century German LGBT people

Biography

Literature

See also

References

External links