I have two questions regarding Bertolt Brecht, if there should happen to be some lefty intellectuals reading VNN Forum.

1. Does anyone know for sure if he was a jew or not? In this link it says his father was a Catholic and his mother a Protestant

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/brecht.htm

Here's a link with his picture

http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc15.htm

2. In which play did he write something about "politicians electing a new people" or something like that?

2. In which play did he write something about "politicians electing a new people" or something like that?

It was from the The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.


Do I get a brownie point for being a smart ass? :D

1. Does anyone know for sure if he was a jew or not? In this link it says his father was a Catholic and his mother a Protestant

Brecht wasn’t Jewish, but his second (and final) wife, Helene Weigel, a communist Viennese actress, was.

One of his short plays is entitled, The Jewish Wife.

It was from the The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.


Do I get a brownie point for being a smart ass? :D

Thanks for your answer, John. Is Arturo Ui Adolf Hitlers alter ego? I will have to read the play in English because there doesn't seem to be a Swedish translation.

Brecht wasn’t Jewish, but his second (and final) wife, Helene Weigel, a communist Viennese actress, was.

One of his short plays is entitled, The Jewish Wife.

I still have my doubts. He looks a bit like Alfred E. Neuman if one takes a close look at this picture.

http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc15.htm

I don't know much about the man other than he was looked upon by communist/leftist jews as being "one of them." The band Dead Can Dance (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:m7xvad6kv8w2) did a haunting song version of his poem "How Fortunate the Man With None" on their album Into the Labyrinth (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002MM8/).

How Fortunate The Man With None (http://plagiarist.com/poetry/646/)
Bertolt Brecht (http://Bertolt%20Brech%3Ci%3Et%20%3C/i%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/b%3E%3C/font%3E)
From the play "Mother Courage"
You saw sagacious Solomon
You know what came of him,
To him complexities seemed plain.
He cursed the hour that gave birth to him
And saw that everything was vain.
How great and wise was Solomon.
The world however did not wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's wisdom that had brought him to this state.
How fortunate the man with none.

You saw courageous Caesar next
You know what he became.
They deified him in his life
Then had him murdered just the same.
And as they raised the fatal knife
How loud he cried: you too my son!
The world however did not wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's courage that had brought him to that state.
How fortunate the man with none.

You heard of honest Socrates
The man who never lied:
They weren't so grateful as you'd think
Instead the rulers fixed to have him tried
And handed him the poisoned drink.
How honest was the people's noble son.
The world however did not wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's honesty that brought him to that state.
How fortunate the man with none.

Here you can see respectable folk
Keeping to God's own laws.
So far he hasn't taken heed.
You who sit safe and warm indoors
Help to relieve our bitter need.
How virtuously we had begun.
The world however did not wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's fear of god that brought us to that state.
How fortunate the man with none.

I still have my doubts. He looks a bit like Alfred E. Neuman if one takes a close look at this picture.

http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc15.htm

I was going to say, "He must be Jewish because he is a very famous name, but no ordinary person is familiar with his work". From his pic I would say one grandparent Jewish, at least. Probably the mom's mom, since that way he could be Jewish yet non at the same time.

"He must be Jewish because he is a very famous name, but no ordinary person is familiar with his work".


In the seventies Brecht was always lauded as a great genius by the left. That's why I am suspicious of him.

But if one reads his play they are not convincing. They are shallow propaganda-pieces.

The interesting thing with Brecht is the music in his plays, written by Kurt Weill, (and I am 100 % sure he is a jew).

Weill's music is very suggestive. It fits perpectly to the twenties/thirties/Metropolis atmosphere of Brechts plays. I especially remember Alabama Song and September Song.

There is a biography in the University library on Brecht that I've perused when looking for German books. It claimed that Brecht was anti-Semitic. He accused them of screwing up Marxism and using it as a means.