The famed Vienna Philharmonic has acknowledged that many of its musicians were members of the Nazi party and that its director may have delivered a prestigious orchestra award to a Nazi war criminal two decades after the end of World War Two.
The orchestra, which has come under fire for covering up its history, on Sunday published details for the first time about its conduct during the Nazi era, including biographies of Jewish members who were driven out and sent to death camps.
Austria took until 1991, more than four decades after the war’s end, to formally acknowledge and voice regret for its central role in Hitler’s Third Reich and Holocaust.
The Alpine republic will solemnly mark the 75th anniversary on Tuesday of its annexation by Nazi Germany, an event most Austrians at the time welcomed.
