Nazi-era Singer Attempts a Comeback

by Jordan Yerman | February 17, 2008 at 07:31 am

772 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

This guy should have had a quick chat with Leni Riefenstahl about how quickly folks forget those who work with the Nazis.

A 104-year-old Dutch cabaret singer who once performed in Nazi Germany has given a concert in the Netherlands for the first time in four decades.

There were protests and tight security around the theatre in Amersfoort where Johannes Heesters appeared.

Although Heesters insists he never espoused Nazi politics, he performed for Adolf Hitler and visited the Dachau concentration camp.

Correspondents say many Dutch people have never forgiven him.

"He kept singing for the Nazi regime, for the Wehrmacht, and he earned millions," said Piet Schouten, representative of a committee formed to protest against Saturday's performance.

"We have a problem with that on behalf of all the victims," he told national broadcaster NOS.

[...]

Heesters was never accused of being a Nazi propagandist, and the Allies allowed him to continue performing after the war.

If not a Nazi propagandist, someone who performs at a concentration camp and then continues to perform for the Nazis would qualify as a Nazi sympathizer; therefore it should come as no surprise that the entertainment world is less than thrilled to see Heesters again.

Having said that, Ford sold tank engines to Hitler, and IBM built the punchcard system that would send millions to their deaths; Ford has since apologized and funded a Holocaust museum, though IBM continues to take the "no comment" approach.