The world famous Vienna Philharmonic orchestra has posthumously declined six nazi-leaders their honorary awards. Among them are Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Baldur von Schirach.
Historian Oliver Rathkolb investigated the history of the Vienna Philharmonic during the war. He concluded that the Viennese music ensemble enthusiastically embraced the nazi regime. After the ‘Anschluss’ of 1938, the unification of Germany and Austria, the band enthusiastically cooperated with Hitler’s progaganda-minister Joseph Goebbels. Half of the orchestra-members joined the nazi-party, the NSDAP. Jewish musicians were expelled without hesitation. Thirteen Jewish colleagues were dismissed because of their Jewish ancestry. Five of them perished in concentration camps.
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