The saying goes, “Music can soothe the savage beast,” but what if it is the savage beast that is using the music as a cynical form of evil and torture?
In July 1942, Hans Bonarewitz attempted to escape from the Mauthausen concentration camp by trying to hide himself inside a box and was captured on 30 July 1942. The photograph above is of Hans Bonarewitz forced to pose standing next to the box he wanted to use to escape.
He was to be executed, but rather than just killing him, he was paraded through the camp like some circus attraction.
He was led to the gallows on a makeshift cart pulled by fellow inmates. The camp orchestra had to continuously play the song, “J’attendrai ton Retour,” (“I shall wait for your return”).
Another song, the traditional German children’s song “Alle Vögel Sind Schon Da,” (“All the Birds are Back Again’), was played immediately before execution. It was just evil on top of evil just for the sake of being evil and nothing else. How disgusted the musicians must have been, being forced to do this.
The information was discovered by Aitor Fernandádez-Pacheco, a filmmaker of the documentary film, “Mauthausen, una mirada Española,” who interviewed the former Spanish prisoner Mario Constante for his documentary.
sources
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1144948
https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=10954
https://boyerwrites.com/tag/hans-bonarewitz/
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