The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany Paperback - 2001

First line

THE FIRST SCENE of the opera Die Walkure, the second of the four operas making up Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, takes place in the house of Hunding, a fierce warlord.

From the rear cover

"The Holocaust has hovered on the periphery of the American imagination for so many decades now, it's hard to believe a book could come along at this point to burn a whole new perspective into our consciousness. But that's just what Martin Goldsmith has done with this astonishing work. . . . Goldsmith [writes] with modesty, restraint, and skill . . . masterly."-SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"A fascinating insight into a virtually unknown chapter of nazi rule in Germany, made all the more engaging through a son's discovery of his own remarkable parents."-TED KOPPEL, ABC News
"An immensely moving and powerful description of those evil times. I couldn't put the book down."-JAMES GALWAY, Grammy Award-winning Flutist
"Martin Goldsmith has written a moving and personal account of a search for identity. His is a story that will touch all readers with its integrity. . . . This is a journey everyone should take."-LEONARD SLATKIN, Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra
"For years I've been familiar with Martin Goldsmith's musical expertise. This book explains the source of his knowledge and his passion for the subject. In tracking the extraordinary story of his parents and the Jewish Kulturbund, Martin unfolds a little-known piece of Holocaust history, and finds depths in his own heart that warm the hearts of readers."-SUSAN STAMBERG, Special Correspondent, National Public Radio
"As much a tribute to the power of music as it is a Holocaust memoir, this book tells the deeply affecting story of a love that survived the terrors of WWII."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY