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Fritz Löhner-Beda (24 June 1883 – 4 December 1942), born Bedřich Löwy, was an Austrian librettist, lyricist and writer. Murdered in Auschwitz III Monowitz concentration camp and nearly forgotten, many of his songs and tunes remained popular up to today. == Life == Löhner-Beda was born Bedřich Löwy in Wildenschwert, Bohemia (present-day Ústí nad Orlicí, Czech Republic) in 1883. In 1888, his family moved to Vienna, and in 1896 changed their surname to the less Jewish surname Löhner. Having passed his Matura exams, he began the study of law at the University of Vienna, where he became a member of the Jewish Kadimah student association. After he had obtained his doctorate, he worked as a lawyer from 1908 onwards. A dedicated football player, he was among the founders of the Hakoah Vienna sports club in 1909. In 1910, Löhner-Beda decided upon a career as an author. He wrote numerous light satires, sketches, poems, and lyrics but also contributed to several newspapers, often under the pen name "Beda", a shortened version of his Czech first name, Bedřich (Frederick). In 1913, he met Franz Lehár, for whom he wrote the libretto of the 1916 operetta ''Der Sterngucker'' (''The Stargazer''). Two years later, in 1918, Löhner-Beda was called up for military service in World War I, which he left as an officer and a convinced antimilitarist. In the 1920s, Löhner-Beda became one of the most sought-after librettists and lyricists in Vienna. Together with Lehár as composer, Ludwig Herzer as co-author, and Richard Tauber as singer, Löhner-Beda produced the operettas ''Friederike'' (''Frederica'', 1928), ''Das Land des Lächelns'' (''The Land of Smiles'', 1929), and, with Paul Knepler as co-author, ''Giuditta'' (1934). Together with his friend Alfred Grünwald as co-author and Paul Abraham as composer, Löhner-Beda produced ''Viktoria und ihr Husar'' (''Victoria and Her Hussar'', 1930), ''Die Blume von Hawaii'' (''The Flower of Hawaii'', 1931), and ''Ball im Savoy'' (''Ball at the Savoy'', 1932). On April 1, 1938, almost immediately after the ''Anschluss'' (the Austrian annexation to Nazi Germany, in mid-March 1938), Fritz Löhner-Beda was arrested and deported to the Dachau concentration camp. On September 23, 1938, he was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp. There, together with his fellow prisoner Hermann Leopoldi at the end of 1938, he composed the famous anthem of the concentration camp, ''Das Buchenwaldlied'' ("The Buchenwald Song"): The line ''wir wollen trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen'' was adopted by the Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl for the German title of his 1946 book ''Man's Search for Meaning''. Even though Löhner-Beda's name appeared in the Nazi ''Encyclopedia of Jews in Music'' in 1940, his songs and the Lehár operettas were still performed (but with no mention of their librettist). The circumstances surrounding Franz Lehár possibly attempting to intercede with the Nazis on Löhner-Beda's behalf are clouded. Supposedly after World War II Lehár denied any cognizance of Löhner-Beda's concentration-camp imprisonment, but one source states that Lehár may have tried personally to secure Hitler's guarantee of Löhner-Beda's safety.〔Peter Herz: "Der Fall Franz Lehár. Eine authentische Darlegung von Peter Herz". In: ''Die Gemeinde'' 24 April 1968.〕 On October 17, 1942, he was deported to the Monowitz concentration camp, near Auschwitz. The circumstances of his death are described in Raul Hilberg's ''The Destruction of the European Jews'': during an inspection by several directors of the IG Farben syndicate around Otto Ambros, Fritz ter Meer, Carl Krauch, and Heinrich Bütefisch, the already diseased Löhner-Beda was denounced as working not hard enough, for which he was beaten to death on December 4, 1942.〔Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (Fritz Löhner-Beda) by Günther Schwarberg (2000) ISBN 3-88243-715-4〕 A Kapo accused of the murder in the 1968 Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial was acquitted of the charge due to lack of evidence. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fritz Löhner-Beda」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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