By Nate Altman
Prior to law school, Nate worked in the underwriting and legal departments of Mutual of America Financial Group and lived in Manhattan. As a 3L, Nate served as Treasurer of the Albany Law School Golf Club and was heavily involved in the Albany Law School Rugby Football Club. He previously served on the Moot Court Executive Board as a 2L.
Nate has been a law clerk for the past year at Hinman Straub PC and will continue full-time after taking the bar exam. Previously, he worked at the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office as a law clerk in the Appeals Division.
In his free time, Nate enjoys skiing, golfing, and cycling.
As a society, we are aware of the atrocities that occurred throughout Europe before and during World War II. The vast amounts of information available to the world documenting the Third Reich and its systematic oppression and extermination of the Jewish people and others is no secret. There were concentration camps, gas chambers, ghettos, wooden bunks stuffed with emaciated, dying people, mass graves, and firing squads.
Less commonly known, however, is the important role that music played in the Nazi facilitation and operation of prison camps. Music was used to physically break down, punish, dupe, humiliate, and murder prisoners. At the same time, the Nazis used music for their so-called entertainment. Prisoner-built orchestras, singing marches, and music "shows" occurred throughout the many concentration camps.
It was by design that music was a helpful tool in the decimation of Jews and others. This paper serves to enlighten the public on the Nazi's use of music during the Holocaust, adding music to the list of countless war crimes committed against prisoners and to the genocide committed against the Jewish people.
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To read the paper, open HERE.
