On Not Playing the Game
Jerry: [indignantly] What's the matter with you?
George: [quietly] C'mon, go along . . .
Jerry: I'm not goin' along. I can just see you in Berlin in 1939 goose-stepping past me: "C'mon Jerry, go along, go along . . ."
From: The Seinfeld Episode: "The Outing"
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On Playing the Game
Allert gives a variety of examples of both enthusiasm for the gesture [the Hitler salute], and attempts to avoid it. Among the pictures included is one of Richard Strauss, his half-hearted gesture in marked contrast to the others celebrating around him (though by that time he also had the excuse of being a very old man), and one of an abbot, walking between two rows of saluting soldiers, his own arm raised in what could just as easily be a wave to the crowd or blessing. But it's clear that it was hard not to play along -- which was part of the point: by allowing no variation, by demanding and sticking to the specific formula, and thus also making it very obvious when someone didn't respond in the appropriate manner every citizen was forced to already compromise on this level. It may seem almost trivial, and yet once they've been compromised into this, and act as one dutiful mass, the next steps get easier.
From: The Hitler Salute by Tilman Albert
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On Not Playing the Game
There exists a certain Communist style, Yuri Andreievich. Few people measure up to it. But no one flouts that way of life and thought as openly as you do. Why you have to flirt with danger, I can’t imagine. You are a living mockery of that whole world, a walking insult to it.
From: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
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Strauss himself was no supporter of the NAZIs. He wrote in his private journal, "I consider the Streicher-Goebbels Jew-baiting as a disgrace to German honour, as evidence of incompetence – the basest weapon of untalented, lazy mediocrity against a higher intelligence and greater talent." He was not active politically nor was he outspoken publically. Thus he could continue his career after the NAZIs seized power. Like most Germans, he did not fully appreciate the nature of the NAZIs. He attempted to resist the politicization of German music and even the campaign against Jewish muscicans. Some criticize him for dealing with the NAZIs, but this seems unfair. Few Germans could avoid dealing with the NAZIs unless they emigrated. Muscicians who wanted to work had to come to terms with the regime. Strauss and others hoped that Hitler could be convinced to promote the arts, in his case music. This meant dealing with Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels who controlled recording, publication, and broadcast. Strauss attempted to ingratiated himself with Goebbels, dedicating an orchestral song, 'Das Bächlein' to him. Goebbels was not impressed. Goebbels unlike Hitler did not admire Strauss. He wrote in his diary, "Unfortunately we still need him, but one day we shall have our own music and then we shall have no further need of this decadent neurotic." We are not sure, however, to what degree Goebbels disliked Strauss' music rather than his politics and resistance to dismissing Jews from positions in the music industry. Strauss never joined the NAZI Party and refused to give the NAZI salute when he greeted people. Strauss because of his eminence it the music world was appointed president of the Reichsmusikkammer (November 1933). Almost certainly Hitler would have been consulted on this appointment. He did not prove to be, however, a compliant NAZI tool. He decided to accept the post, but to administer the agency apolitically. This of course was impossible in the NAZI Reich. He attempted to simply ignore NAZI bans on performances of foreign and Jewish composers (Debussy, Mahler, Mendelssohn, and others). Such open defiance would have meant instant dismissal even arrest for individuals of lesser status. The turning point for the regime was his work on the comic opera, 'Die schweigsame Frau'. The problem was that he was working with a Jewish friend and associate--the librettist Stefan Zweig. The opera was premiered in Dresden (1935). Strauss defied Goebbels orders that that Zweig's name not appear in the theatrical billing. This was an act of considerable courage. The NAZIs were outraged. Hitler and Goebbels refused to attending the premiere which was expected for a major work of Germany's most esteemed living composer. After only a few performances, the opera was banned. Strauss wrote to Zweig, "Do you believe I am ever, in any of my actions, guided by the thought that I am 'German'? Do you suppose Mozart was consciously 'Aryan' when he composed? I recognize only two types of people: those who have talent and those who have none."
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