The Tangled Road to Legalization: The Admission of the German Language in Musical Performances in Israel

Just after Israel was founded in May 1948, hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors flooded the economically frail young state. At that point, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion understood that the postwar German government would make efforts to compensate the survivors and their families. In September 1951 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer made a historic statement to the Bundestag recognizing the obligation of the German government to compensate Israel as well, as the representative of the Jewish people.

The issue of German reparations kindled a fierce public debate in Israel. Opposition parties on both left and right were vehemently opposed to any direct contact with those whom they regarded as a collective of murderers. Conversely, the leading coalition party, the centrist MAPAI (the Party of the Workers of the Land of Israel) claimed that it would be grossly unjust to let the Germans keep the enormous Jewish funds and properties that the Nazis had stolen. Stormy debates raged in the Knesset, fueled by emotional and even violent street protests outside the building. In January 1952, the Knesset voted in favor of a reparations pact from Germany. The agreement with the German government was signed in September after tense negotiations between German and Israeli delegations. The Bundestag approved the pact in March 1953.

The next stage of negotiations with Germany concerned Israel's request for military assistance in view of mounting Arab hostility. In 1957 the governments reached a mutual military pact. Trickiest of all, though, were the prolonged negotiations on the establishment of full German-Israeli diplomatic relations. The capture and long public trial of the Nazi arch-criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1961, which culminated in his execution (the only death penalty ever carried out in Israel), seared the most sensitive nerves of collective Jewish memory and placed strains on German-Israeli relations. Throughout 1963, Chancellor Adenauer pushed for a mutual agreement on diplomatic relations, but when he stepped down in December he announced he would pass the final action on to his successor, Ludwig Erhard. The agreement was duly agreed upon and signed; and the first German ambassador arrived in August 1965.

The signing of the initial agreement of reparations was soon followed by the import of German goods, especially of brand-name electric appliances and the noticeable Volkswagen cars. This further kindled the anger of those who had opposed the agreement. There were indeed many individuals who boycotted German products; but these individuals could not halt the growth of trade relations between Israel and Germany. One curious effect was that much public hostility was channeled towards German culture—above all, the use of the German language in public functions. To take one example, whereas no official law dealing with the use of the German was ever enacted by the Knesset, there existed a general understanding that in the case of music, a total boycott would be placed on live or radio performances of any vocal works in German. Israeli artists sang German works in Hebrew translation, while recordings were broadcast in translation if possible. International guest artists were asked either to perform in translation or to avoid a German repertoire altogether. Interestingly, the ban on German was limited to public performances and broadcasts. Music lovers were free to buy recordings in German, and the German repertoire was discussed in music history courses.

A detailed discussion of the other bans that were set in place from the 1950s and 1960s is beyond the scope of this note. They include bans:

• • On performances and broadcasts of the music of Richard Wagner. The ban is still in effect at the time of writing.

• • On performances and broadcasts of music by composers suspected of collaboration with the Nazi government, most importantly Richard Strauss and Franz Lehár. The bans on Strauss and Lehár were lifted only in the 1990s.

• • On extending invitations to guest performers who were suspected of having been Nazis or Nazi collaborators (and on broadcasting their recordings).

While thousands of Israeli Jews of Central European origin continued to speak German...