Deutsche Oper Berlin to host memorial concert for Nazi-era persecuted employees

The Deutsche Oper Berlin will host a memorial concert titled ‘Wider das Vergessen’ (Against Forgetting) on October 7, 2026, at the Tischlerei. The event aims to honor former employees of the opera house who were persecuted during the Nazi era.

Initiated by solo timpanist Benedikt Leithner following archival research, the concert highlights the lives of three specific singers whose careers were ended by the Nazi regime. Due to being denied membership in the Reichsmusikkammer, these artists faced professional bans in Germany.

The research uncovered diverse fates, including Jewish baritone Gerhard Pechner, who fled through the Soviet Union and Japan to eventually perform 661 times with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Other stories include soprano Else Wühler-Hallauer, who faced severe material hardship due to her marriage to a Jewish doctor, and tenor Wilhelm Gombert, who lost his position for refusing to divorce his Jewish wife.