Julian Futter wrote: Dr Rainer Lotz, who was behind the 11 CD set
“Vorbei” – Beyond recall, the survey of Jewish recordings in the Nazi
era, has just released a discography of Jewish recordings in German
speaking countries. “Discographie der Judaica-Aufnahmen”.
This book covers 78rpm recordings made from 1901 up to 1960. It is
complimentary to Spottswood since Spottwood only covers recordings made
in the USA. It is nearly 600 pages long and covers more than 400
performers. Covering all aspects of Jewish life, culture, religion and anti-semitism
it therefore also includes entries for Thomas Mann, Ze’ev Jabotinsky and
many of the leaders and functionaries of the 3rd Reich. Among other
performers there are full details for S Kwartin, J. Rosenblatt, Julius Guttmann and many others.
Although entirely in German, the material is so well laid out that a
knowledge of German is not necessary to be able to make full use of it.
It costs 60 Euros and can be obtained directly from him at
Birgit Lotz Verlag, Jean Paul Str 6, 53173 Bonn, Germany email:
disc@lotz-verlag.de

Tomasz Lerski in Warsaw has produced an extraordinary discography and history of the Jewish owned
Syrena record label. Among the hundreds of artists who recorded for this
label, before and after the First World War, were Belf’s orchestra,
Aaron Lebedeff, Sirota, David Oistrakh, Moses Kussevitsky, Wladyslaw
Szpilman (the subject of Polanski’s “The Pianist”) and pretty much
anyone who recorded in Poland. It is copiously illustrated and includes
a biographical dictionary containing nearly 900 entries. However unless
you can read Polish much of the information will be hard to decipher.
This book has been an incredible labour of love and is an absolutely
invaluable tool for any serious student of Jewish recordings and culture
in Poland. It cost about 75 Euros It can be obtained direct from Mr Lerski at Blekitna 83, 04-663 Warsaw Poland or
Rokosowska 7/5,02-348 Warsaw Poland. His email is tomasz.lerski@post.pl