Richard Wagner condemned in
6 November, 2007
Oxford University Chabad Society hosted last Tuesday a lecture by the great-grandson of composer Richard Wagner, co-sponsored by Spiro Ark. Dr. Gottfried Wagner, who has lectured numerous times in Israel and is notorious in Germany for his critical views of his great-grandfather, a national symbol in Germany, was invited by the OU Chabad Society to speak about the anti-Semitism of Richard Wagner and his impact on German culture and politics.
Dr. Wagner categorically stated that one cannot separate Richard Wagner, the anti-Semite, from his music and added that personally he could not listen to his music for pleasure. Furthermore, Dr. Wagner, who suggested that Richard Wagner’s music should at very least not be played where there are Holocaust survivors present, condemned his great-grandfather for being co-responsible for the Holocaust.
Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of the Oxford University Chabad Society, introduced the speaker by urging the audience that ant-Semitism and other forms of racism should have no place in today’s society and anti-Semites, like Holocaust denier, David Irving, should not be given a platform to speak anywhere, particularly at the Oxford Union.
The event attracted over a hundred students, leaving standing room only at the David Slager Chabad Jewish student centre.