Furtwangler,coward or fascist?

Question

Im not really looking to hate anyone im just interested in the dychotomy between great artists and there behavior as human beings

Answer 1

Wilhelm Furtwängler was neither!

He was just as much against the n**i Party as Strauss, just not as vocal about it.  Furtwangler resigned his post as Conductor of the Berlin Opera in '34 after he was banned from conducting a Hindemith opera, but stayed in Germany.  He was later charged with supporting Naziism BECAUSE he stayed in Germany and contributed morale to the party, but was cleared for a number of reasons:

1) It was brought to light that he actually HELPED many Jewish musicians to escape the Third Reich before he himself fled to Switzerland in 1945.  He stayed for most of the war, quietly helping hundreds to freedom.

2) After he resigned from the Berlin Opera House, the New York Philharmonic offered him the position of conductor, succeeding Toscanini... VERY prestigeous.  He didn't accept it because Hermann Wilhelm Göring (2nd in command of the Third Reich) released a press release declaring that Furtwangler had come back to the Berlin Opera.

You have to remember, that although morally bankrupt, Hitler was a genius who understood that the control of information would control the people.  Most likely, Furtwangler was told he would stay in Germany "or else", and the press release was to assure national pride in a great conductor... like a really dangerous guilt trip.  After the announcement, New York withdrew their offer, seeing Furtwangler as a member of the n**i party, and wanting no association.

3) He made his disdain for the n**i Party more than apparent, by his unyeilding refusal to give the n**i salute, and the film footage of him wiping his hand after shaking hands with high profile n**i leaders (Joseph Goebbels being one caught on tape).  You can watch a blip of it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqff1F0Ij...

At the end of his performance, Goebbels walks up and shakes his hand... watch CLOSE... you will see him pull a hankercheif.  The camera switches angles, but goes back to Furtwangler who has finished wiping his hands and is trying to pocket the hankercheif.  Yes, Yes, he was sweaty and one could find a million other reasons he had a hanky- but this is not the only time caught on film, nor the only instance documented by others who resisted the n**i party.

4) His own justification for staying in Germany under n**i rule was that not all Germans were n**i's and they deserved to have German music written and performed by German people.  He was terribly patriotic (in the healthy sense) and wanted to preserve the pre-n**i culture.  He felt he could stand between it and n**i corruption, and although he hated that his works were endorsed by the n**i's, it helped to keep both him and his art alive (literally and figuratively).

I don't think Furtwangler was a coward or a fascist... I think history is being forgotten, twisted, or otherwise lost.  And if you really want a great composer / conductor to hate... how about Wagner?  Now HE was a fascist, and was proud of it.  

(EDIT: Yeah, ok... Wagner wasn't a fascist, he was an antisemite... Anyways... is this for a project or for personal interest?)

Answer 2

I can see how he could be considered a coward (to which I disagree), but how would he be viewed as fascist?

He seems more of a victim than a offender to me.

I have more to add if you can shed some light...