Tag Archives: Persecution of Jews

The Billy Joel Connections

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

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Basel massacre

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The Basel massacre of Jews took place on 9 January 1349, as part of the Black Death persecutions of 1348–1350.

Following the spread of the Black Death through the surrounding countryside of Savoy and subsequently Basel, the Jews were accused of having poisoned the wells, because they suffered a lower mortality rate than the local gentiles from the pestilence.

The Black Death, which is estimated to have killed between 75 and 200 million people in the middle of the fourteenth century, arrived in central and western Europe in 1348. The pandemic spread through Savoy and soon began to kill people in the city of Basel.

Convinced that the Jews of the city were dying of the disease less frequently than the Christians, the local population soon began to accuse the Jews of poisoning the wells. Although accurate statistical evidence is lacking, numerous theories have been put forward to explain why Jews may have appeared to have suffered less from the disease. While one of these is based on the simple observation that Christians were less likely to see Jewish victims due to the fact they were buried in separate cemeteries, another suggests that strict Jewish dietary rituals meant that Jewish homes were much less appealing to the rats that are believed to have carried the plague.

Under pressure from the powerful guilds, many of whom had obtained confessions from local Jews under torture, the City Fathers responded with extraordinary ruthlessness. Having separated children from their parents, the adult Jews were a specially constructed wooden barn on an island in the Rhine. Here they were shackled together and the structure set on fire, leaving the victims to burn alive. The surviving children were forcefully converted to Christianity, while Jews were banned from the city for 200 years.

The Black Death itself continued to ravage Europe for around another four years, killing between 30 and 60 per cent of the entire population of the continent.

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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.

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