Nuremberg – History of Sorts

It was Billy Joel’s 74th birthday on 9 May, and I was thinking about writing a piece about his musical history, going back to the times when he joined a band called “Echoes,” at age 16 to the times when he joined the bands “The Hassles” and “Atilla.” Then I came across a story which connected Billy Joel with World War II, the Holocaust and a large German retail and travel company, and indirectly to 4 Olympic games—and I thought that would make a much more engaging story.

Billy Joel was born William Martin Joel on 9 May 1949 in the Bronx, New York, and grew up in Long Island. Billy’s father, Howard (born Helmut) Joel, was a classical pianist and businessman, born in Nuremberg, Germany, to a Jewish family. He was the son of merchant and manufacturer Karl Amson Joel.

Karl Amson Joel started a business in household linens in 1927. The business was so profitable that he, his wife and their young son, Helmut, moved to an affluent area of Nuremberg. As his business rose in prominence—the Nazis rose in their power. The Nazis put their sights on eliminating the Joels and all Jewish businesses.

After the rise to power of Nazism in 1933, Karl Amson Joel was increasingly discriminated against by the regional Nazi Party leaders, especially Julius Streicher, the founder and publisher of the virulently antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer.r.

In May 1933, Der Stürmer ran a front-page article calling Karl a Yid and accusing him of underpaying and sexually harassing his workers. Billy Joel’s father, Helmut [aka Howard], was one of four Jews in his Nuremberg classroom directed to sit apart from their classmates.

Karl Amson Joel moved his company to Berlin in 1934, renting a factory in Wedding, and installing new packing machines in the stitching department. However, had to remain in Nuremberg. As persecution increased (e.g. deliveries had to be marked with a “J” for Jude [Jew]). Jewish firms became Aryanized (the forced expulsion of Jews from business life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It entailed the transfer of Jewish property into Aryan hands), Joel was forced to sell his company in 1938 to Josef Neckermann.

For fear of further persecution, Karl Amson Joel moved to Switzerland in July 1938 and later to the United States via Cuba.

Neckermann made his fortune as the owner of one of Europe’s largest department stores. His business made him the director of a very successful mail-order company under the slogan Neckermann Macht’s Möglich (Neckermann makes it possible) and also a travel company.

Shortly after World War II, Neckermann was sentenced to one year in a military prison.

In 1949, Karl Amson Joel successfully sued Neckermann for compensation in a Nuremberg court. Eight years later, the parties settled, and the files were closed.

In 1957, Karl Amson Joel got a compensation of 2 million West German marks for his former company from Neckermann, who at that time ran the most successful German mail order selling company.

As I said earlier on in this blog there is also a connection to 4 Olympic games, albeit indirect. Josef Neckermann was also a German equestrian and Olympic champion. He was one of the richest private citizens to have ever competed at the Olympic Games, and he did quite well, winning six medals in the dressage. Neckermann’s Olympics medals were as follows: 1960 – individual bronze, 1964—team gold (both for the mixed German team), 1968—team gold and individual silver, 1972—team silver and individual bronze, all for West Germany.

Other members of Billy Joel’s family were killed during the Holocaust.

I could not finish this blog without at least including one of his many songs. This is my favourite Billy Joel song.

sources

https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/magazine/then-now/campus/outback.html

https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/stranger-no-more/

https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/12487

Donation

I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

$2.00

Most of you know I have a keen interest in all things WWII and you are probably expecting an epic tale of a WWII Dogfight over the skies of Nuremberg.

dogfight

Alas you are mistaken, this particular ‘aerial combat’ took place on either the 4th or 14th of April 1561(it was reported on the 14th).

I came across this UFO story and thought it was worth sharing, How much of it is true I don’t know,but it is intriguing nevertheless.

As the sun rose on April 14, 1561, over the German city of Nuremberg, the residents saw what they described as some kind of aerial battle take place in its glare — complete with the erratic dance of orbs, crosses, cylinders, and the appearance of a large and mysterious black arrow-shaped object — all followed by a crash-landing somewhere beyond the city limits. Later that month, local artist Hans Glaser produced a broadsheet (pictured below) offering a woodcut engraving of the scene, and a detailed description of what was witnessed. The text reads:

Himmelserscheinung_über_Nürnberg_vom_14._April_1561

“In the morning of April 14, 1561, at daybreak, between 4 and 5 a.m., a dreadful apparition occurred on the sun, and then this was seen in Nuremberg in the city, before the gates and in the country – by many men and women. At first there appeared in the middle of the sun two blood-red semi-circular arcs, just like the moon in its last quarter. And in the sun, above and below and on both sides, the color was blood, there stood a round ball of partly dull, partly black ferrous color. Likewise there stood on both sides and as a torus about the sun such blood-red ones and other balls in large number, about three in a line and four in a square, also some alone. In between these globes there were visible a few blood-red crosses, between which there were blood-red strips, becoming thicker to the rear and in the front malleable like the rods of reed-grass, which were intermingled, among them two big rods, one on the right, the other to the left, and within the small and big rods there were three, also four and more globes.

Aerial_conflict

These all started to fight among themselves, so that the globes, which were first in the sun, flew out to the ones standing on both sides, thereafter, the globes standing outside the sun, in the small and large rods, flew into the sun. Besides the globes flew back and forth among themselves and fought vehemently with each other for over an hour. And when the conflict in and again out of the sun was most intense, they became fatigued to such an extent that they all, as said above, fell from the sun down upon the earth ‘as if they all burned’ and they then wasted away on the earth with immense smoke. After all this there was something like a black spear, very long and thick, sighted; the shaft pointed to the east, the point pointed west. Whatever such signs mean, God alone knows. Although we have seen, shortly one after another, many kinds of signs on the heaven, which are sent to us by the almighty God, to bring us to repentance, we still are, unfortunately, so ungrateful that we despise such high signs and miracles of God. Or we speak of them with ridicule and discard them to the wind, in order that God may send us a frightening punishment on account of our ungratefulness. After all, the God-fearing will by no means discard these signs, but will take it to heart as a warning of their merciful Father in heaven, will mend their lives and faithfully beg God, that He may avert His wrath, including the well-deserved punishment, on us, so that we may temporarily here and perpetually there, live as his children. For it, may God grant us his help, Amen. By Hanns Glaser, letter-painter of Nuremberg.”

You never know-the truth is out there!

ufo_2387810k-858x342