Hanns Eisler
The Committee met at
THE CHAIRMAN: The Committee will come to order. Will the record show that a Subcommittee is sitting, consisting of Mr. McDowell, Mr. Wood, Mr. Rankin, and Mr. Thomas. Staff members present are Mr. Robert E. Stripling, Chief Investigator, and Mr. Louis J. Russell and Mr. Donald T. Appell, Investigators.
MR. EISLER
: I wish to repeat the requests made by my counsel yesterday. First, I
ask that my hearing be adjourned until the same date as the.hearing
of the other witnesses of the motion-picture industry. The Committee has stated
that it would adjourn the hearings for the industry because it was necessary to
have a full Committee. There is no reason to separate me from the rest of the
industry. I should be given the same treatment and privileges which you will
give to other witnesses you call from
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Chairman, on the first point which Mr. Eisler raises, I submit that this
hearing is on an entirely different subject matter than the
THE CHAIRMAN: It is the unanimous consent of the Committee that the answer is no on both one and two.
MR. STRIPLING: The third point, Mr. Chairman, was whether or not he can submit questions to the Committee to be asked other witnesses, questions which would serve as a cross-examination?
THE CHAIRMAN: The answer is no on number three.
MR. EISLER: Then, Mr. Chairman, may I ask the permission to read a statement?
THE CHAIRMAN: Let me see your statement, please.
MR. EISLER: Will you be so kind?
(Statement handed to the Chairman.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Eisler, we have read this statement. The Chair is going to rule exactly the same in your case as it did in the case of your brother. We are taking the statement under advisement. The statement will not be read at this time.
MR. EISLER: I object to not being allowed to read my statement after all that I went through in the last year-
THE CHAIRMAN: The objection is overruled. Go ahead and proceed with your questions, Mr. Stripling.
MR. STRIPLING: When and where were you born, Mr. Eisler?
MR. EISLER:
MR. STRIPLING: You are a citizen of what country at the present time?
MR. EISLER: I am in
possession of first citizenship papers of the
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, of what country were you a citizen before you
filed for citizenship papers of the
MR. EISLER:
MR. STRIPLING: Do you
have any relatives in the
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Will you name them for the Committee?
MR. EISLER: Gerhart Eisler, Miss Ruth Fischer.
MR. STRIPLING: What is your occupation?
MR. EISLER: Musical composer - may I add, of international reputation.
MR. STRIPLING: Of international reputation?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: In what institutions did you receive your musical education?
MR. EISLER: In Vienna, at the academy. I am the pupil of the famous composer, Arnold Schoenberg, one of the greatest living masters of modern music.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, when did you leave
MR. EISLER: Yes. I left
MR. STRIPLING: How long
did you remain in
MR. EISLER: Till 1933,
February, when I have to flee
MR. STRIPLING: And where did you go?
MR. EISLER: I went to
MR. STRIPLING: How long
did you remain in
MR. EISLER: I was there at least from March, I think, until July.
MR. STRIPLING: What other European countries have you resided in?
MR. EISLER: I lived for
quite a time in
MR. STRIPLING: During what period?
MR. EISLER: I lived in London, February, I think - no, the fall of '34 until around February or March, so far as I remember - and went back to London - let me see - '36, February, and stayed the whole year in London.
MR. STRIPLING: Were you
ever in
MR. EISLER: Sure. I was
quite often in
MR. STRIPLING: Were you
ever in the
MR. EISLER: Yes. I was
also in the
MR. STRIPLING: How many
times have you been in the
MR. EISLER: The last time I remember was '35. I must have been there at least in '32, '31.
MR. STRIPLING: '31, '32, and '35?
MR. EISLER: Possibly I was there once more, but I really cannot remember, you know.
MR. STRIPLING: You remember three times?
MR. EISLER: Three times, yes. It could have been '29 or so, I cannot recall that.
MR. STRIPLING: Why did
you go to the
MR. EISLER: I made moving pictures there. Youth Takes the Floor the title of the moving picture. That made two trips necessary.
MR. STRIPLING: What years?
MR. EISLER: That was '31 and '32, or '33; '35 they had some concerts there, some lectures there. The state publishing house prints a symphony of mine. I also had talks with this publishing house. I stayed five or six weeks I would say.
MR. STRIPLING: Were you
ever employed by the
MR. EISLER: No. I was, like many, many artists, a guest.
MR. STRIPLING: Did you ever receive any money from the Soviet government?
MR. EISLER: No. Naturally, I got my fee from the publishing house, as every author gets from every publishing house in the world.
MR. STRIPLING: Did you ever receive any money from any individual other than the publishing house you referred to?
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, when did you first come to the
MR. EISLER: I came first
in the
MR. STRIPLING: How long did you remain?
MR. EISLER: I made a
lecture and concert trip. It must be two and a third or three months. I was
traveling under the auspices of the Lord Morley committee. Lord Morley had a
kind of committee to help the children of refugees which were living in great
hardship, even in camps, in
***
MR. STRIPLING: Now, Mr.
Eisler, with the exception of the brief period which you spent in
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: During this period have you been employed in various capacities?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Will you outline those for the Committee - your employment?
MR. EISLER: I was
employed as professor of music at the
MR. STRIPLING: Just a
moment. The
MR. EISLER: Yes. I was working under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. I taught and studied and composed.
MR. STRIPLING: You taught and what?
MR. EISLER: I composed my music. I was a teacher. I did my research work for the Rockefeller Foundation.
MR. STRIPLING: Now,
besides the
MR. EISLER: Never.
MR. STRIPLING: Didn't you assist in the making of a film for the Department of Agriculture?
MR. EISLER: Yes, but wouldn't call it employment. It was a small picture. I wanted to do it free. I got, I guess, one hundred or two hundred dollars for it.
MR. STRIPLING: Were you ever employed by the Federal Theater Project?
MR. EISLER: Never.
MR. STRIPLING: Have you ever been employed in the motion-picture industry?
MR. EISLER: Absolutely. I am a free lancer. Whenever somebody likes something exceptional in modern music he hires me.
MR. STRIPLING: You write background music for motion pictures?
MR. EISLER: Yes. That is only one part of my profession. I am a composer. I have written many many symphonic - chamber music - songs. And once or twice a year I write a motion picture. It interests me and I need the money.
MR. STRIPLING: Would you outline for the Committee the various studios by which you have been employed?
MR. EISLER: I was one,
two, three times hired by Independent Producers. I made Hangmen Also
Die, for United Artists. Then I made the picture Scandal in Paris,
that was made by the same independent outfit. Then a picture,
Jealousy, which was done, I guess, by
Gong Productions, a small independent outfit. Then I made five - let me see - None But the Lonely Heart, Deadline at Dawn,
MR. STRIPLING: Your latest employment was with RKO - Keith?
MR. EISLER: RKO. Correct,
sir. I wrote a score to a picture which they did in
MR. STRIPLING: Now, Mr. Eisler, are you now, or have you ever been, a Communist?
MR. EISLER: I was, as I told you in my first hearing - I am not now a Communist. And I remember I made, when I was a young man, in 1926, an application for the German Communist [Party] but I found out very quick that I couldn't combine my artistic activities with the demand of any political party, so I dropped out.
MR. STRIPLING: You dropped out?
MR. EISLER: Dropped out.
MR. STRIPLING: I thought you said you made application.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: You wouldn't drop out if you made application.
MR. EISLER: Oh, yes, sir. Look! If I join a union and don't pay union dues, after a couple of months I will be suspended.
MR. STRIPLING: I understood you made application.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Well, did you join?
MR. EISLER: You know that is the implication, but I didn't take any more care of it, I just let it run.
MR. STRIPLING: You did join the Communist Party?
MR. EISLER: I made application.
MR. STRIPLING: Did you join?
MR. EISLER: It is so: you make an application, you get an answer -
MR. STRIPLING: What I have asked is, "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?"
MR. EISLER: I say I am
not now a member of the Communist Party. I tried to explain to you that I made,
in 1926, an application for the Communist Party in
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Eisler, let me ask that question a little differently. You did make application?
MR. EISLER: Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN: And you did join, did you not?
MR. EISLER: I did not really join. I made an application, and I got an answer, but I neglected the whole affair.
THE CHAIRMAN: Then your answer is you were never a member of the Communist Party?
MR. EISLER: Not in the real sense.
THE CHAIRMAN: Never mind the real sense. Were you a member or were you not a member?
MR. EISLER: I told you, Mr. Chairman, and I repeat, I made an application but neglected-
THE CHAIRMAN: I know. But is your answer yes or no?
MR. EISLER: That is my answer, Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: No. You will have to be more specific. We want to know whether you were a member of the Communist Party.
MR. EISLER: In the Communist Party, I would say I never was a member. When a man who doesn't follow up-
THE CHAIRMAN: But you made application to be a member?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: And was the application accepted?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: That is all.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, have you ever participated in any Communist Party meetings?
MR. EISLER: Any Party meeting? No.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, as a matter of fact, you have been the foremost figure in the
revolutionary movement of the
MR. EISLER: No, sir. The
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Chairman, I have here a copy of the Daily Worker, an excerpt from a copy of the
Daily Worker of
HANNS EISLER WILL ARRIVE
HERE JANUARY 27. ...This famous revolutionary composer, who has been living in
exile in
K-u-h-l-e W-a-m-p-e-
MR. EISLER: Kuhle Wampe.
This is a motion picture which I did in 1932 in
MR. STRIPLING (continues reading):
- Hell on Earth, Comintern,
M-a-s-s-n-a-h-m-e-
MR. EISLER: What is that last one, please?
MR. STRIPLING: M-a-s-s-n-a-h-m-e.
MR. EISLER: M-a-s-Would you be so kind, please?
(Mr. Stripling exhibits clipping.)
MR. EISLER: Massnahme, which is a German word meaning "expedient."
MR. STRIPLING: And the next one.
MR. EISLER: Tempo der Zeit, which means "the tempo of our times"
MR. STRIPLING: And the next one.
MR. EISLER: Rot Front, which means "red front."
MR. STRIPLING: "Red front?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Did you compose all of those?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: The article goes on to state, Mr. Chairman:
His arrival in
MR. RANKIN: Well, Mr. Chairman, what is that from?
MR. STRIPLING: It is from the Daily Worker, official organ of the Communist Party.
MR. RANKIN: That is what I wanted to know.
MR. STRIPLING: Now, Mr. Eisler, it is stated here that the Workers Music League was a part of the Hanns Eisler Tour. Are you familiar with the Workers Music League?
MR. EISLER: I remember there was nice young men which were very friendly to me and interested in composing music for labor, for which I have a lot of sympathy.
MR. STRIPLING: Now, do you conceive the Workers Music League to be a Communist organization?
MR. EISLER: No. There must be some Communists in it, but it is a music organization which has social tendencies.
MR. STRIPLING: Social tendencies?
MR. EISLER: Absolutely.
MR. STRIPLING: I have
here, Mr. Chairman, the issue of the Workers Music League,
dated December 1932, volume 1, No.1, official organ of the Workers Music
League,
MR. EISLER: Would you be so kind and look at the date? It says "1932." I was not in this country-
THE CHAIRMAN: The question is, Mr. Eisler, will you describe the emblem on that.
MR. EISLER: The sickle and hammer is the Communistic sign.
THE CHAIRMAN: The hammer and sickle?
MR. EISLER: Yes. But it is with a violin clef, so it is not-
MR. STRIPLING: You don't consider the Workers Music League to be a Communist organization, Mr. Eisler?
MR. EISLER: No. A Communistic organization is one which declares itself a Communistic organization.
MR. STRIPLING: Wasn't it
the
MR. EISLER: I remember darkly some music bureau.
MR. STRIPLING: You are
very familiar with the International Music Bureau with headquarters in
MR. EISLER: Yes. It was one of my ideas.
MR. STRIPLING: It was your idea?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: You helped organize it, didn't you?
MR. EISLER: No. I would-
THE CHAIRMAN: Did you help organize it? That was the question.
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. STRIPLING: You didn't help organize the International Music Bureau?
MR. EISLER: No. It was a voluntary collaboration between artists and labor groups. I am not an organizer. I am a composer. I advised them.
MR. STRIPLING: That is all right, Mr. Eisler. We will get to the International Music Bureau in just a few minutes.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: I am sure you will admit that you were quite instrumental in its organization and in its reorganization?
MR. EISLER: I gave my best advice when somebody asked me, but I am not what you call an organizer.
MR. STRIPLING: Next, Mr.
Chairman, I have the Daily Worker of
Hanns Eisler, the famous revolutionary German refugee composer, arrived
in this country a few days ago.
I won't read the article in its entirety, Mr. Chairman. But I would like to read certain excerpts:
The spreading of
revolutionary music among the German workers was not an accident, nor was it
easily accomplished. The Communist Party in
Eisler, however, was not
happy in the surroundings of the musical bourgeoisie. To be one of a great
number of decadent musicians meant a futility stagnating to his talents. Only
when Eisler came into the struggle of the working class did he find his medium,
and with it grew his power of composing music which expressed not only the life
and battles of the German workers but of the working class of the entire world.
THE CHAIRMAN: What is it you are reading from now?
MR. STRIPLING: From the Daily Worker Mr. Chairman, concerning Mr. Eisler's arrival in
the
MR. RANKIN: Is that the
Communist Daily Worker, the organ of the Communist
Party in the
MR. STRIPLING: It is the official organ of the Communist Party.
MR. RANKIN: That is what I wanted the record to show.
MR. STRIPLING:
Those who are acquainted
with his "Solidarity Song" from the Kuhle Wampe,
"The Ballad of Soldiers," "On Guard," "Roter Wedding," "Comintern,"
"Address to a New Born Child," know the stirring message he tells in his
music. The workers and peasants of the
This Hanns Eisler has
done with remarkable success. We, in the
Do you take any
disagreement with this article which Sergei Radamsky wrote
in the Daily Worker of
***
MR. EISLER: I cannot identify all newspaper articles written about me, but I think it was well meant, and they want to show that in Germany I wrote a lot of music, especially in the last years before Hitler came to power, and that I did my best as an artist to help with my music in this very difficult struggle. If you like, I can show you clippings for the same time from the Hearst press which say I am a monarchist and wanted the return of Kaiser Wilhelm.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, I checked the entire
MR. EISLER: I will give you such a clipping.
MR. STRIPLING: Now, five
days later the
Part of soprano section
of a chorus of 1 ,000 hails Hanns Eisler, ...noted German
revolutionary composer, as he arrives to conduct rehearsals for hisconcerts here.
Now, in the forefront of this picture, Mr. Eisler, is yourself, also giving the Communist salute.
MR. EISLER: This is a German salute, which is not-
MR. STRIPLING: Would you identify yourself from that picture?
MR. EISLER: Yes, absolutely. Here.
MR. STRIPLING: There is no question but that you are giving the salute?
MR. EISLER: Yes, but-
MR. STRIPLING: Would you demonstrate to the Committee the salute you gave?
(Mr. Eisler demonstrates salute.)
MR. EISLER: May I add
this salute was invented in
MR. RANKIN: What paper was that in?
MR. STRIPLING: That is the Daily Worker.
MR. RANKIN: The Communist Daily Worker?
MR. STRIPLING: Yes. Now,
on
In every city of the
world, hundreds of thousands of workers pound along the pavements, voicing in
mass protest, the outrages and exploitations of their ruling classes. They
remember their tortured and imprisoned comrades, the untold sufferings and
brutality that has been their lot. As they march, thousands
of voices eagerly catch up in militant determined song their struggles and
their fight for liberation. In the pulsating, stirring rhythms of these revolutionary
songs they forge their common challenge, which hurls itself in a volume of
sound against the very walls of their ruling-class enemies. Behind this music
stands Hanns Eisler-foremost revolutionary composer.
***
Mr. Eisler, I have here
the Daily Worker of October 7; 1935, an
article by Charles Hatchard, under the headline
"Music unifies workers-Eisler describing experiences in
MR. EISLER: I don't remember the article.
MR. STRIPLING: This is October 1935.
MR. EISLER: I don't remember this article.
MR. STRIPLING: It starts out:
Hanns Eisler, German
exile and world's leading composer of music and songs for workers, returned to
Later it says:
The International Music
Bureau, which he has headed for three months, is having marked success in
bringing together professional and amateur musicians and contemporary
composers.
And it also states :
A large edition of his
compositions is being published this year by the State Publishing House of the
MR. EISLER: Yes, directed by Ivens.
MR. STRIPLING: We will get to Mr. Ivens later. The article concludes:
In the heat of the
October revolution, Eisler reminds all musicians,
proletarian love of music was powerfully promoted and developed by the Soviet.
The fourth number of Pravda after the seizure of power featured a long article calling
upon all workers and Red Army men to learn songs and music. "For music
identifies and unifies the workers," Eisler remarks with a warm smile. "The
songs of the workers will rise in this present conflict from the trenches on
either side of every no man's land. In that unity of voices and of action lies our hope for the world's future."
Do you have any disagreement with what Mr. Hatchard has said?
MR. EISLER: This writer has the right to write what he likes. I can only speak for myself. I am not responsible for every article written about me.
***
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, the Committee has quite a bit of evidence here-
MR. EISLER: I see.
MR. STRIPLING: Concerning the International Music Bureau.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Which you organized and which you reorganized. Now, would you give the Committee a complete statement of your activities in that connection?
MR. EISLER: Yes, I would
be delighted. It was my idea to group together anti-Fascist artists, composers,
and try to make some kind of a music bureau. I spoke with several friends in
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, you say it is music and nothing else. Haven't you on a number of occasions said, in effect, that music is one of the most powerful weapons for the bringing about of the revolution?
MR. EISLER: Sure. Napoleon the First said-
THE CHAIRMAN: Never mind Napoleon. You tell what you said.
MR. EISLER: I consider
myself, in this matter, a pupil of Napoleon. I think in music I can enlighten
and help people in distress in their fight for their rights. In
MR. STRIPLING: You have written a lot of songs, Mr. Eisler, have you not?
MR. EISLER: I have written not only songs, but I have written everything in my profession. Here is a book printed by a subversive organization, the Oxford University Press, but I couldn't say that I am a member of the Oxford University Press. This came out two weeks ago. I would ask you, Mr. Stripling, to study this book. I did work for the Rockefeller Foundation.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, when we get through with the International Music Bureau we will take up your work with the Rockefeller Foundation, for which you received twenty thousand dollars.
MR. EISLER: My salary was exactly sixty-five dollars a week.
MR. STRIPLING: We will go into the exact amount which you received.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: The
International Music Bureau was organized in
MR. EISLER: I spoke with
some of the German refugees in
THE CHAIRMAN: Was it organized
in
MR. EISLER: No. If it
ever came to having an office, we wanted it in
THE CHAIRMAN: Just a minute.
The question was, "Was the International Music Bureau organized in
MR. EISLER: No.
THE CHAIRMAN: You can answer that in one word.
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. STRIPLING: Mi. Chairman, in connection with that, I should like to introduce a translation of an article which appeared in Soviet Music, No. 2, the March and April 1933 issue, pages 126 and 127, entitled "For a Solid Front of all Proletariat and Revolutionary Musicians," by P. Weis:
In November of 1932 was
held the First International Musical Conference in which participated
representatives of the following countries:
MR. EISLER: I was not present-
THE CHAIRMAN: Just a minute.
MR. STRIPLING:
Creating a revolutionary
single front in the musical movement can be accomplished only by politicalization. We should not diverge
one single iota from a program of progressive class struggle. We can be
successful in our efforts only if we know how to transplant our political
slogans to the sphere of music. It isn't sufficient just to expose the
treachery of reform leaders; we should also be able to show how the socialist
fascistic ideology displays itself in special forms of musical movements and
musical creations. It is not sufficient only to point out to the crisis of
capitalization in general; we should also show concretely the decadence of all
bourgeois culture and particularly musical culture. We should prove that the
only right road for artistic creations, which include also that of musicians,
is in service to the objectives of proletarian revolution.
***
You said that you were the inspiration for the International Music Bureau. Then state the origin and genesis of it.
MR. EISLER: I was not in this country, Mr. Chairman. May I object to the reading of articles of this kind, old articles from a different time, because it can only create a kind of hysteria against me. If you want to do something for me, please ask me about these things.
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Stripling, what is the purpose of your reading these excerpts?
MR. STRIPLING: The purpose is to show that Mr. Eisler is the Karl Marx of Communism in the musical field and he is well aware of it.
MR. EISLER: I would be flattered.
MR. STRIPLING: In
California he indicated that the only thing he ever did was to file an application
to join the Communist Party - he had no knowledge of Communism. When he was
asked by the Board of Special Inquiry, when he entered this country, if he was
familiar with Communism, he said no. When he was asked if he
had ever cooperated with the
MR. EISLER: But did I
deny I was in
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Chairman,
I intend to show that the International Music Bureau, as a section of the
Communist International, was a major program of the
MR. EISLER: It was my idea and the idea of my friends. I assure you, it was the idea of my friends.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have answered the question.
MR. EISLER: Yes. I take all responsibility for such a thing, but I assure you-
THE CHAIRMAN: You have already answered the question, Mr. Eisler. Ask another question.
MR. EISLER: Could I finish my sentence, Mr. Chairman?
THE CHAIRMAN: You have answered. Please go ahead and ask the next question.
MR. STRIPLING: The Soviet Music issue of January and February of 1933, No.1, page 142, entitled "International Bureau of Revolutionary Music," has the following to say:
In February of 1932 there
was laid down a firm beginning for the International Union of Revolutionary
Musicians. At the initiative of the secretariat of the International Union of
Revolutionary Theatres, there has been established within this organization a
musical section.
During a comparatively
short period the musical section of MORT has done considerable work in strengthening
the international musical bonds.
In November 1932, the
first international music conference of great historical significance took
place in
It was decided to create
in place of the musical section of the MORT an International Music Bureau,
which was to have the functions of organizing committees for establishment of
an International Union of Revolutionary Music. The following members were
elected to this bureau: Comrade Eisler (
I won't list the other members of the bureau, Mr. Chairman. I want to point out that Mr. Eisler was the first one selected as a member of the bureau. It continues:
For directing the work of
the bureau, a secretariat was formed, which included the following members-
It lists the members, and there is the name of Mr. Eisler.
The principal tasks of
the IMB are to unite all of the revolutionary musical forces in all countries,
to exchange musical experience and musical material among different countries,
to attract into the ranks of the revolutionary musical front the better
representatives of the workers' intelligentsia, to create sections in the
capitalistic countries, and to call a world congress for the organization of
the International Union of Revolutionary Music. The American Workers' Musical
League, the German Union for the Advancement of Revolutionary Music, and the
Japanese Union of Proletariat Musicians have already
become national sections of IMB.
Mr. Eisler, when I asked you to identify the emblem of the Workers Music League, you said that it was not affiliated with the international union.
MR. EISLER: I don't really know. This was a copy from 1932. I don't know how that affiliation was. I was here as a composer. If somebody asked, me about music, I would talk about it. I would make speeches about Beethoven for amateur orchestras, and so on.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, who composed the "Internationale"?
MR. EISLER: A man called Pierre Degeyter. It was written around 1888.
MR. STRIPLING: Did you ever belong to an organization known as the Pierre Degeyter Music Club?
MR. EISLER: I had a lecture there once.
MR. STRIPLING: In the
MR. EISLER: Yes. In the Pierre Degeyter Club.
MR. STRIPLING: Do you consider it to be a Communist organization?
MR. EISLER: Mr. Stripling, I don't ask anybody is he a Communist or not when I go to a club and speak. I was in many clubs and in many concerts. I don't check up on them.
MR. STRIPLING: Well, now do you know whether or not it is a Communist organization?
MR. EISLER: I don't know.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, did you ever lecture at the Communist Party headquarters?
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. STRIPLING: In November of 1935 didn't you appear at the Communist Party headquarters with your brother, Gerhart Eisler?
MR. EISLER: My best recollection is I do not remember.
MR. STRIPLING: You
lectured on the cultural movement in the
MR. EISLER: I was never elected to anything by the Communist Party.
MR. STRIPLING: Your answer is that you did not?
MR. EISLER: To my best memory and recollection, this is not true.
THE CHAIRMAN: Your memory
is better today than it was in
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: So you can recall whether you attended such a meeting with your brother Gerhart.
MR. EISLER: I really cannot recall. I am not a coward. I really do not recall.
THE CHAIRMAN: Is your answer yes or no?
MR. EISLER: My answer is that I don't remember it.
MR. STRIPLING: Were you a member of the Pierre Degeyter Club?
MR. EISLER: Never.
MR. STRIPLING: You were not?
MR. EISLER: I was a
guest. At this time I was exactly ten days in
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Chairman, we have here the record of the Pierre Degeyter
Club. Here is the membership roll of the Pierre Degeyter
Club. Under the E's is listed as, I assume, member No.12, as Eisler,
MR. EISLER: It is very
nice for this young man to elect me, but I lived in
MR. STRIPLING: Is this your handwriting?
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. STRIPLING: Was that your address at that time?
MR. EISLER: In London, yes.
MR. STRIPLING: This states, Mr. Chairman, "Membership roll." Now, is this your handwriting?
MR. ElSLER: Absolutely. It is.
MR. STRIPLING: It is written in German, and I wonder if you would translate it for the Committee.
MR. EISLER: "The heartiest greetings and wishes"-"revolutionary greetings and wishes to the Pierre Degeyter Oub."
MR. STRIPLING: You wrote that?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Now, Mr.
Chairman, among the records which the Committee has on the Pierre Degeyter Club is one which states, "Pierre Degeyter Club, predecessor of the American Music
League." Pierre Degeyter Club was changed to the
American Music League. Here are the minutes of the American Music League for
the meeting
The minutes of meeting of
1. Letter from district 2
of the Communist Party asking us to adopt a resolution of protest against the
action of the Supreme Court in voiding the minimum-wage law and against the
power of the Supreme Court. A motion was made to send telegrams to our
Congressional representative and to President Roosevelt protesting recent
Supreme Court decisions and requesting that action be taken to curb their
power. The motion was amended to send letters instead of telegrams, and the
amended motion was carried. ...
4. Letter from the
I offer these, Mr. Chairman, to indicate the complexion, so to speak, of the organization. The Pierre Degeyter Music Club published a number of songs, some of which were Mr. Eisler's, but its activities were not as extensive as those of the International Music Bureau, which I would like to return to. I have here, Mr. Chairman, what is entitled International Collection of Revolutionary Songs. On the front is the hammer and sickle. Inside, under the date of 1933, it has the hammer and sickle. It says "International Music Bureau of IURT, International Collection of Revolutionary Songs." On page 24 there appears a song entitled "The Comintern March," by Hanns Eisler. Now, Mr. Eisler, did you compose the music for "The Comintern March"?
MR. EISLER: I composed a march for a theater play in 1926 or 1927, which was later popular and got a different title. I am the author of the song.
MR. STRIPLING: Of "The Comintern March"?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Will you explain to the Committee what the Comintern is?
MR. EISLER: The Comintern was an international organization of labor.
THE CHAIRMAN: I didn't hear you.
MR. EISLER: An international organization of labor. There was the First, Second, and Third International. They come together to try to unify.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Chairman, this appeared in three different languages. In the foreword they have gone to great lengths to point out what a great weapon music is in the class struggle. It says:
We know of some very
important historical examples when the song served as a mighty weapon for
revolutionary agitation, such as the period of the Russian Revolution in 1917.
Its extreme importance was
again demonstrated by the fact that about three-fourths of an editorial article
in one of the first issues of Pravda in 1917
(issue No.5) was devoted to the question of song.
The quote from Pravda goes on to say that the workers sang the "Internationale" while behind barricades, and it was an
inspiration, and so forth. Here is another edition published in 1935 in the
MR. EISLER: Yes. Also the slogan of many political groups. Not exclusively the Communist Party.
MR. STRIPLING: The slogan
is well known, Mr. Chairman. In this particular edition, published in four
languages, in
MR. EISLER: Yes, I
composed it in
MR. STRIPLING: Would you refer to it as revolutionary music?
MR. EISLER: Absolutely. Revolutionary music is a little high-hat for it. I would call it a song for labor.
MR. STRIPLING: Would it aid in the class struggle?
MR. EISLER: Pardon me?
MR. STRIPLING: Would your song aid in the class struggle?
MR. EISLER: I hope it was.
MR. STRIPLING: You hope that it was?
MR. EISLER: I hope it was.
MR. STRIPLING: You have
also entertained that hope since you have been in the
MR. EISLER: My songs are completely forgotten. This is really, I would say, a past affair.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, well, let's see whether it is forgotten. I have here a song book, entitled Red Song Book. This was published, prepared by the Workers Music League, with the hammer and sickle on the front, which you said was not a Communist organization, and they feature on the back your song, "Comintern," by Hanns Eisler. I will read to the Committee the words of the song.
MR. EISLER: A pleasure.
MR. STRIPLING: Would you like to read them?
MR. EISLER: You have a better pronunciation than I.
MR. STRIPLING:
Oh, you who are missing,
Oh, comrades in dungeons,
You're with us, you're
with us,
This day of our
vengeance.
No Fascists can daunt us,
No terror can halt;
All lands will take flame
With the fire of
revolt.
The Comintern
calls you,
Raise high Soviet banner,
In steeled ranks to battle
Raise sickle and hammer.
Our answer: Red Legions
We raise
in our might
Our answer: Red Storm
Troops
We lunge to the fight.
From
The workers' October
Comes storming reaction's
Regime the world over
We're coming with Lenin
For Bolshevik work
From
Rise up fields and
workshops
Come out workers,
farmers;
To battle march onward,
March on, world stormers.
Eyes sharp on your guns,
Red banners unfurled,
Advance, Proletarians
To conquer the
world.
Is this one of your little ditties that someone adopted [adapted]?
MR. EISLER: This song was written in 1926. This is a translation. When was the song printed here?
MR. STRIPLING: This was
published in 1932 in
MR. EISLER: In 1932 I was
in
MR. McDOWELL: Who wrote the words, Mr. Stripling?
MR. STRIPLING: By Victor Jerome. Other songs which appear in this issue are the "Internationale," "The Barricades," "The Builders," “Comrades, the Bugles Are Sounding," "Solidarity," "The Workers' Funeral March," and others.
MR. EISLER: Very beautiful melody there.
MR. STRIPLING: I have another one here, Mr. Eisler, entitled America Sings.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: That was
published by the Workers' Bookshop,
has published. ..songs
by Eisler and by Soviet composers which have been translated into the English
language. ...The American comrades have succeeded in getting into the movement
a number of outstanding musicians and theorists. ...
Great assistance in the
matter of solving the greatest problem of theoretical courses is shown by a
musical club called Pierre Degeyter in
***
This is the organization which you autographed revolutionary greetings to?
MR. EISLER: Sure.
***
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, when you were in
MR. EISLER: I think I
gave interviews, as usual. Mostly ideas about
MR. STRIPLING: I have an
article here written by you, which appeared in Sovetskoe Iskusstvo,
Still, I am an optimist
with regard to the future because I believe in the inexhaustible strength of
organized masses. The dark epoch of fascism makes it clear to each honest
artist that close cooperation with the working masses is the only way leading
to creative art. Only in a revolutionary struggle will an artist find his own
individuality. ...
Similar developments can
be observed in
An active role is also
played in the workers' musical movement by Henry Cowell
of San Francisco.
All these events, which
only three years ago could hardly have been foreseen, show that for a real
artist there is only one way in the field of art: the road toward revolution.
It would not be long before there would not be left a single great artist on
the other side of the barricades.
Revolutionary music is
now more powerful than ever. Its political and artistic importance is growing
daily.
Mr. Eisler, what do you mean by "on the other side of the barricades"?
MR. EISLER: Will you repeat the title of this article?
MR. STRIPLING: The title of it was "The Destruction of Art."
MR. EISLER: By whom?
MR. STRIPLING: By Hanns Eisler.
MR. EISLER: No, I didn't destroy art. You can't criticize me there. I spoke on - I guess you can find it - how Fascism has destroyed art.
THE CHAIRMAN: I don't think that is responsive to the question. What was your question, Mr. Stripling?
MR. STRIPLING: I asked him what he meant when he referred to "on the other side of the barricades."
MR. EISLER: I mean in
***
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, did you write a song entitled "In Praise of Learning"
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: I will read the words to this one verse. It says:
Learn now the simple
truth,
You, for whom the time
has come at last;
It is not too late.
Learn now the A, B, C,
It is not enough, but learn it still.
Fear not, be not
downhearted,
Begin, you must learn the
lesson
You must be ready to take over.
What do you mean, "You must be ready to take over?"
MR. EISLER: This song
appeared in a play which I wrote the music for. It was written in 1929 in
THE CHAIRMAN: You didn't mean that you must be ready to take over now, did you?
MR. EISLER: I can't understand your question.
THE CHAIRMAN: You said that it applied to Germany.
MR. EISLER: Not only to Germany. It was a show, a musical song in a show. It applied to the situation on the stage.
THE CHAIRMAN: Would it
also apply here to the
MR. STRIPLING: It was
shown in the
MR. EISLER: No, I wrote
the music in 1929 or 1930 in
THE CHAIRMAN: It doesn't
apply only to
MR. EISLER: It is from a quotation by Maxim Gorky, the famous writer. The song is based on the idea of Maxim Gorky. This song applies to the historical structure of the Russian people from 1905 until 1917 .
THE CHAIRMAN: Would you write the same song here now?
MR. EISLER: If I had to
write a historical play about
THE CHAIRMAN: Would you
write the same song here in the
MR. EISLER: No.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have changed your opinion, then?
MR. EISLER: No, but I am a guest, a stranger here, and the labor movement can handle their affairs themselves. That is what I mean.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, did you ever send greetings to the
MR. EISLER: Sure. I don't remember but there must be some.
MR. STRIPLING: Soviet Music of October 1936, No.10, page 6, has an article, "Musicians Abroad on the Subject of Stalin's Constitution." You don't hate Stalin, Mr. Eisler?
MR. EISLER: Pardon?
MR. STRIPLING: Do you hate Stalin?
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. STRIPLING: Why did you tell the immigration authorities that you hated Stalin?
MR. EISLER: I cannot remember the fact. If I really made such a stupid remark I was an idiot.
MR. STRIPLING: You said, "I hate Stalin just as I hate Hitler," when you were before the immigration authorities.
MR. EISLER: I am surprised. There must be a misunderstanding, or it is a completely idiotic, hysteric remark.
THE CHAIRMAN: Do you remember?
MR. EISLER: I don't remember the remark. I think that Stalin is one of the greatest historical personalities of our time.
MR. STRIPLING: This message, Mr. Chairman, refers to Stalin's constitution, by Hanns Eisler, and reads:
Hearty greetings to the
constitution of the great socialistic state, based on the great principle “From
each one according to his abilities - and to each one according to his
labor."
It is almost impossible to encompass with thought all those huge results which
your constitution will have for future instruction of the new socialistic
culture. Each success for the
That was written in 1936 after you had been in this country.
MR. EISLER: Did I write this?
MR. STRIPLING: It says, "By Hanns Eisler, hearty greetings."
MR. EISLER: I cannot remember. It is quite possible that I did it. But where was it written?
MR. STRIPLING: It appears in Soviet Music.
MR. EISLER: I see.
MR. STRIPLING: October 1936, number 10.
MR. EISLER: Then I wrote it, naturally.
MR. STRIPLING: The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Mr. Eisler, of
Hanns Eisler-born 1898,
composer, Communist, is at the head of the proletarian movement in German
music.
Is that an error on the part of this Great Soviet Encyclopedia to refer to you as a Communist?
MR. EISLER: It is an error. They call everybody Communist which was active like me. I admitted, gentlemen - I am not afraid about anything – I would admit it. I have no right, especially today, in which the German Communists in the last fifteen years have sacrificed so much, and fought, too - I would be a swindler if I called myself a Communist. I have no right. The Communist underground workers in every country have proven that they are heroes. I am not a hero. I am a composer.
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Eisler, on that point, you said that you made application-
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: -to become a member.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: And that application was accepted.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: How long were you a member?
MR. EISLER: I tell you, I
remember I made this application around January or February in
THE CHAIRMAN: For how many years were you a member of the Communist Party?
MR. EISLER: I was not really a member. I didn't pay the membership dues. I was not active in the political organization of the Communist Party.
THE CHAIRMAN: You admitted you made an application to become a member of the Communist Party.
MR. EISLER: 1926, in
THE CHAIRMAN: You admitted that you had been accepted.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: I want to know how long you were a member.
MR. EISLER: Mr. Chairman,
since I went immediately to
THE CHAIRMAN: That is all right. How many years?
MR. EISLER: No years.
THE CHAIRMAN: How many months were you a member?
MR. EISLER: Technically, maybe for a couple of months.
THE CHAIRMAN: Two months?
MR. EISLER: Look, Mr. Chairman, if you join a union and don't pay union dues and don't participate in union activities - I am automatically suspended if I do that.
THE CHAIRMAN: You said before that you withdrew as a member.
MR. EISLER: I dropped out.
THE CHAIRMAN: You dropped out. How long a time was it between the time you made application and were accepted and the time you dropped out?
MR. EISLER: I made application-
THE CHAIRMAN: Wait a minute. Was it two months?
MR. EISLER: I cannot state. I would like to answer it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Do you think it was two months?
MR. EISLER: I cannot say so.
THE CHAIRMAN: What is your opinion?
MR. EISLER: My opinion is
that when I came back to
THE CHAIRMAN: Would you say two months was a fair assumption?
MR. EISLER: I wouldn't say so.
THE CHAIRMAN: How long, then? What would you say would be a fair time?
MR. EISLER: I couldn't say.
THE CHAIRMAN: What?
MR. EISLER: I couldn't answer the question. I explained.
THE CHAIRMAN: How did you withdraw, by the way?
MR. EISLER: The very
simple thing that I didn't join, really, a political organization of the
Communist Party in
THE CHAIRMAN: You were suspended?
MR. EISLER: Automatically.
THE CHAIRMAN: Automatically. When was that?
MR. EISLER: That must be end of 1926.
THE CHAIRMAN: You joined when?
MR. EISLER: January 1926.
THE CHAIRMAN: That is all.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Chairman, I don't think there is any question about whether Mr. Eisler is a Communist or not. The point of the Committee putting all of this material in the record is to show that Mr. Eisler was permitted to go in and out of this country time and time again when the immigration laws of this country say a Communist shall not be permitted in this country.
MR. EISLER: I told you before that my relations to the Communist Party was such a loose thing-
THE CHAIRMAN: You have already admitted that you were a Communist for almost a year. Go ahead, Mr. Stripling.
MR. STRIPLING: The Soviet
government, the Comintern, wouldn't invite a person
to come to
MR. EISLER: We were refugees. We all stick together, regardless of our political beliefs-details of our political beliefs. We stick together. It was not even possible in 1933 to join the Communist Party. This was a very fighting organization. They wouldn't accept a composer or a fool like me.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Chairman, I have next International Literature,
published in
MR. EISLER: Yes. That is
usual in the
MR. STRIPLING: He says:
Eisler sits down to the
piano. He pats it with the palms of his small hands like a child pats the water
in its tub. He doesn't pedal; he stamps the pedal as if it were a vicious
thing. He breathes loud in rhythm with the march. His voice is hoarse and
passionate. ...
Eh, hosts, we are your
guests.
Unasked we're here.
Into our bones you
pressed
Your crutches dear.
You said: False limbs are
best-
And hand and foot
surpass.
You said: Blind folk in the
dark
Push better than the
rest.
No matter. Let the other
foot
Be also torn away,
But to our bosses' necks
Our hands will find the
way.
An army of stumps we are
On wooden claws that ply,
And standing we bring
news-
The world
October's night.
That is not like "Open the Door Richard," Mr. Eisler?
MR. EISLER: Pardon me. I didn't write this. This is a writer that writes about me.
MR. STRIPLING: Here is a direct quote-
MR. EISLER: What book is that'?
MR. STRIPLING: International Literature,
published in
"These
choruses," says Eisler, "are not just music compositions performed for
listeners. They are a particular kind of political seminar on problems of party
strategy and tactics. The members of the chorus work these problems out, out they do so in the easily remembered and practiced
form of a chorus singing. We build this play not for concerts. It is only a
method of pedagogic work with students of Marxian schools and proletarian
assemblies. ...
"Thus Communist
music becomes the heavy artillery of the battle for Commumsm.
...”
MR. EISLER: He has written his interview and he does it in his own way. It is not an article by myself.
***
MR. STRIPLING: Did you write the music for a play Die Massnahme?
MR. EISLER: Sure.
MR. STRIPLING: Would you describe it to the Committee? Describe the plot.
MR. EISLER: This play
goes back to an old Japanese play and was written by a German writer. I wrote
the music to it. Three or four men are involved in organizational struggle.
That is the general tone of the play. It is really a condensation of an old
Japanese play. It was written in 1929 in
MR. RANKIN: May I ask what time you are going to recess?
THE CHAIRMAN: We will
recess in just a few minutes, and will reconvene at
MR. RANKIN: I have a
conference with the Red Cross in regard to relief for the stricken areas along
the
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Eisler, you-
MR. EISLER: The play was written after an old classic Japanese play. I have forgot the name. It was just brought up to date by the writer, and was a symbolic philosophical play and that is all.
MR. STRIPLING: It dealt with party strategy?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: It had to do with four young Communists, did it not?
MR. EISLER: Yes, sir.
MR. STRIPLING: And three of the Communists murdered the fourth one because they felt he would be a menace to the cause; is that correct?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: That is the theme of it?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: We won't go into it further. When the immigration authorities questioned you about this play do you remember what you told them?
MR. EISLER: I think, that I wrote the music to the play.
THE CHAIRMAN: You said it was just a play?
MR. STRIPLING: When questioned about it, Eisler referred to the play as An Expedient and stated it was not Communistic in nature. The real title of the play is Disciplinary Measures, isn't that right?
MR. EISLER: Yes, it is a poetical philosophical play.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Chairman, I don't think we can finish with Mr. Eisler before lunch.
***
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Eisler, you stated that you have a sister in the
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: By the name of Ruth Fischer.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: Do you
recall receiving a letter from her on
MR. EISLER: I don't recall it. What kind of letter was it, please?
MR. STRIPLING: In this letter she accused you and her brother Gerhart of being agents of the GPU. She stated as follows:
If the local branches of
the GPU can succeed in making clever arrangements for a natural death it will
not succeed this time. Not for you nor for Gerhart Eisler,
Chief of the German GPU division in the
I have made the following
preparation: No.1, three physicians have given me a thorough examination. I am
now in good health. There is no cause for natural death. I am constantly under
a physician's care and am taking care of myself in a sensible manner. The
doctors are informed that in case of any trouble they will testify accordingly.
2, a number of reputable journalists and politicians have been informed and
possess a copy of this letter. A number of German immigrants have also been
apprised.
Do you recall receiving that letter?
MR. EISLER: Really not. I don't recall getting such a letter. I think the letter is absolutely idiotic.
THE CHAIRMAN: Don't you think, Mr. Eisler, if you had received such a letter you would be able to recall whether you had gotten it or not?
MR. EISLER: Maybe it was sent to the wrong address?
THE CHAIRMAN: Beg your pardon?
MR. EISLER: But I read similar things.
THE CHAIRMAN: Would you say you never received that letter?
MR. EISLER: It could be possible.
THE CHAIRMAN: Would you say that you did receive the letter?
MR. EISLER: Oh, let's say I don't recall exactly.
THE CHAIRMAN: Now, now,
you better jog that memory of yours a little bit, because it is getting right
back to where it was in
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: If I had received a letter like that, or anyone else in this room had received a letter like that, they would know, particularly if it was from our sister. They would remember whether they received it or not.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: So I want you to answer whether you received that letter or whether you didn't receive the letter.
MR. EISLER: It is quite a possibility that I received the letter.
THE CHAIRMAN: That is not an answer to the question.
MR. EISLER: I say, Mr. Chairman, it is quite a possibility that I received the letter. This must be a sufficient answer. I don't recall this letter. I have no reason to deny it, but I don't know exactly.
THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, but don't you think that if you had received it you would recall it?
MR. EISLER: No. It is so foolish and idiotic-
THE CHAIRMAN: That is why you would recall, if you say it was foolish.
MR. EISLER: Maybe my wife put it away. It is possible. But let's say, for the sake of the record, I received this letter.
THE CHAIRMAN: You received it. All right, for the sake of the record, he received it.
MR. STRIPLING: All right.
THE CHAIRMAN: I don't want to burden the Committee with putting in any more of this evidence. I would like, however, to put into the record as exhibits a number of books containing songs of Mr. Eisler. For example, I have one here published by the Rand School in New York, entitled Rebel Song Book, which contains "We're Marching, O Comrades," by Hanns Eisler.
MR. EISLER: It is the song "Comintern," with a different title in this book.
MR. STRIPLING: I also have another one, Mr. Chairman, entitled Workers' Song Book, published by the Workers Music League in 1935 "Forward, We've Not Forgotten," by Hanns Eisler.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are those the only ones you have, Mr. Stripling?
MR. STRIPLING: No. I have one or two others I would like to put in. I have here Soviet Russia Today, May issue, 1936. It says, on page 33:
For May Day and every
day, timely records of workers' songs. One is "Rise Up"; another is
the “Internationale"; and another one is
"In Praise of Learning," which was written by Hanns Eisler and Bertolt
Brecht for Mother, a musical play based on Maxim
Gorky's novel of the same name.
The recorded version has
been rearranged by the composer, who supervised the recording. The fresh note
this song strikes, coupled with its splendid vigor, makes this a recording of
particular interest.
MR. EISLER: That is just what I told you-
MR. STRIPLING: The other songs listed, as I say, are the "Internationale," "Forward, We've Not Forgotten," and also "The Soup Song" and "United Front," by Brecht and Eisler.
MR. EISLER: I offer as evidence my book, too.
MR. STRIPLING: Mr.
Chairman, those are the only questions I have at this time of Mr. Eisler. I
should like to point out, however, that it might be necessary to bring him back
as a witness. He will have to be subpoenaed back in the
MR. RANKIN: Mr. Chairman, under the law, it is not necessary to resubpoena a witness. Just direct him to stay within the call of the Chair.
THE CHAIRMAN: I am quite confident that you will stay within the call of the Chair.
MR. EISLER: Absolutely.
MR. GREENBERG: Are you putting any geographical limitation on him when you say, "Within the call of the Chair"?
THE CHAIRMAN: Anywhere
within the
MR. EISLER: Oh, yes. Surely.
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. McDowell, do you have any questions?
MR. McDOWELL: Yes. Mr.
Eisler, you were born in
MR. ElSLER:
I was born in
MR. McDOWELL: During the First World War were you a member of either army - the Austrian or the German Army?
MR. EISLER: The Austrian Army.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you work before you became a soldier? Did you have a job?
MR. EISLER: No, I was in school.
MR. McDOWELL: You were a student?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: And after the war was over did you return to your school and continue your studies?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: Have you
ever worked for anybody? Have you ever had what we call in
MR. EISLER: Yes. I was a
professor of music in the Conservatory of the City of
MR. McDOWELL: You taught? You were a teacher?
MR. EISLER: I was a student, a postgraduate musical student. I taught there.
MR. McDOWELL: In the song
"Red Front," which I have before me - music by Hanns Eisler - in the
publication the Worker Musician, among other
things, it says this: "We carry the flag of the working class, in the face
of our class enemy," and so forth. Now, from your testimony here I conclude
that your opinion on matters of work, as we understand work in the
MR. EISLER: I am a composer and composing is my whole life. That is working, too.
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Eisler, on this question of work, you are now employed with RKO?
MR. EISLER: No. I was only a free lancer. I didn't get any job the last-
THE CHAIRMAN: What is the total amount of pay that you have received from RKO?
MR. EISLER: I have to reckon this out. I cannot recall it.
THE CHAIRMAN: It would be in excess of twenty thousand dollars?
MR. EISLER: In the last four years, yes.
MR. McDOWELL: Mr. Eisler, did you write "The Ballad to Paragraph 218"?
MR. EISLER: I write only music.
MR. McDOWELL: You remember the words?
MR. EISLER: Sure I remember the words.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write the ballad "Address to the Crane 'Karl' "?
MR. EISLER: I wrote the music to it.
MR. McDOWELL: Only the music?
MR. EISLER: I never write words.
MR. McDOWELL: Have you read the words?
MR. EISLER: Sure.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write "The Ballad of the Maimed"?
MR. EISLER: Of what, please?
MR. McDOWELL: Of the maimed - the hurt, the injured?
MR. EISLER: I wrote the music to it.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write the words?
MR. EISLER: No. I never write words.
MR. McDOWELL: Have you read the words?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write "Ballad of Nigger Jim"?
MR. EISLER: I wrote the music.
MR. McDOWELL: You didn't write the words?
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. McDOWELL: You read the words?
MR. EISLER: I read the words.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write "Song of the Dry Bread"?
MR. EISLER: Yes. It was in a play.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write the words?
MR. EISLER: No. I never write the words.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you read the words?
MR. EISLER: Sure.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write "Song of Demand and Supply"?
MR. EISLER: It is one of the songs of the-
MR. McDOWELL: Did you write the words?
MR. EISLER: No.
MR. McDOWELL: Did you read the words?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: As a composer of the music for the various pieces that I have named here, would you be consulted in the words that would go with this music?
MR. EISLER: No. I get the text and then I write the music to it.
MR. McDOWELL: I would
like to say, Mr. Chairman, that I think all members of the Committee should
examine these exhibits that I have just named to Mr. Eisler, who maintains he
is a composer of the music. This is matter that couldn't be sent through the
mails in the
MR. EISLER: They are considered as great poetry.
MR. McDOWELL: They are considered as what?
MR. EISLER: Great poetry.
MR. McDOWELL: Great poetry?
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: Well, great
poetry as we are taught in
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: In
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: This song ridicules the law-
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: Opposing the prohibition of abortions.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: In other words, this song would, I presume, in your Communist fashion of thinking, urge that the law opposing abortion be disregarded.
THE CHAIRMAN: I would suggest that we don't get very deep into the question of abortion.
MR. RANKIN: I understand that you have complained that this Committee had smeared you.
MR. EISLER: Yes, Mr. Rankin.
MR. RANKIN: When you make
that charge you are making that charge against a Committee of the Congress of
the
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. McDOWELL: Nothing that this Committee has done is in violation of the rules of the House, or in conflict with the laws of common decency. Now, where do you get any authority for saying that this Committee has smeared you?
MR. EISLER: I haven't any authority at all, but if you had made such a hearing without giving [out], every week the last twelve months, things about me which are not even sometimes the truth, it would be different. But when you have distortions or inventions of somebody which told it to one of the members of the Committee, when you go into this fantastic press campaign against an artist, I am sure every red-blooded artist will be, after one year, after you nearly ruined him, very angry about this.
MR. RANKIN: I am conscious, when I look at this filth here, to which Mr. McDowell has referred-
MR. EISLER: Pardon me, Mr. Rankin. It is not filth.
MR. RANKIN: I am
conscious that anybody that would write that stuff would certainly not have
much respect for the Congress of the
MR. EISLER: I don't know, Mr. Rankin, how you are familiar with American poetry.
MR. RANKIN: American what?
MR. EISLER: Poetry.
MR. RANKIN: Poetry.
MR. EISLER: And American
writing. This is not American poetry or American writing. This was written in
German. It is not translated. It was written in
MR. RANKIN: I suppose that I am as familiar with American poetry and with English poetry generally as any Member of either House. And anybody that tries to tell me that this filth is poetry certainly reads himself out of the class of any American poet that has ever been recognized by the American people.
MR. McDOWELL: Mr. Eisler, you wrote the poem about killing, "About Killing"?
MR. EISLER: It was a quotation from poetry.
MR. McDOWELL: It was a quotation?
MR. EISLER: Quotation.
MR. McDOWELL: But you were the author of the poem?
MR. EISLER: No, I just put it together from poetry. I cannot write words, you know.
MR. McDOWELL: You merely put this together?
MR. EISLER: Yes, from the poetry. I am not a writer.
MR. McDOWELL: Mr. Chairman, I would like permission to read these nine lines, which is the entire poem, that Mr. Eisler put together.
MR. RANKIN: I reserve the right to object. But we will hear him read it.
MR. McDOWELL:
Terrible it is to shed blood
Hard it is to learn to kill
Bad it is to see people die before their time
But we must learn to kill
We must see people die before their time
We must shed blood
So that no more blood will be shed.
MR. EISLER: This is a correct anti-Fascist sentiment-
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Stripling, do you have any more?
MR. EISLER: -written in
1929 and 1930 in
MR. RANKIN: Mr. Chairman, the American people, of course, have just whipped Hitler, but the thing that shocks me is that, while our boys were dying by the thousands over there to get Hitler's heel off their necks, some of these people come here and attempt to foment revolution in the United States. It is about time the American people woke up and put a stop to it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Eisler, the Chair wishes to direct you to remain in le United States.
MR. EISLER: I will.
THE CHAIRMAN: Until you are released by us.
MR. EISLER: Yes.
MR. STRIPLING: And have him remain for the hearings, Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: And be subject to a call from us at the coming hearings, which will start on October 20.
MR. EISLER: Yes. Do I
have to remain in
THE CHAIRMAN: Do you want him any more?
MR. STRIPLING: Mr. Chairman, I would like for him to remain this afternoon, please.
THE CHAIRMAN: Stay
throughout the day in
MR. EISLER: I am to stay in this room?
MR. STRIPLING: In this room.
THE CHAIRMAN: In this room.