Fritz Weiss

Fritz Weiss (Czech: Bedřich Weiss) (28 September 1919 – 28 September 1944) was a Czech jazz musician and arranger, active in the first half of the 20th century. He was an organizer of jazz performances and an important participant in the musical life of the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Weiss was murdered in the Holocaust.

Biography

Early years A poster for a music performance of Fritz Weiss Quintet (among others) in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, created by K. Heřmann. Weiss was born into a middle-class German-speaking Prague family of Jewish origin. He became interested in jazz at an early age, and soon began to participate in the jazz life of Prague.

He started to play violin, but later switched to trumpet. As a student of the Prague English Grammar School he became a member of the school orchestra called Swing Rhythm, where he played first trumpet. Playing in the orchestra he met a significant exponent of Czech jazz, Karel Vlach. As a member of the Karel Ludvík Orchestra, Weiss became a bandleader and helped to organize rehearsals, but above all, he arranged the major part of the repertory of the ensemble.

Theresienstadt On the 4 December 1941 Fritz Weiss was sent, as part of the second Aufbaukommando, to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. He later secretly sent his arrangements out of the camp. He collaborated mainly with Arnošt Kavka, the singer of the Karel Vlach Orchestra. Weiss, together with Berlin pianist Martin Roman, composed and arranged more than thirty new compositions for the ensembles. The most popular composition was the jazz arrangement of the children's opera Brundibár, originally composed by Hans Krása. In June 1944, during the visit of the Red Cross to the camp, the Ghetto Swingers were forced to participate in the propaganda performance organized by Kurt Gerron, coerced by the Germans to deceive the outside world. The ensemble also appeared in the propaganda movie The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews, made during this event.

In September 1944, Fritz Weiss's father was sent in the transport to the Auschwitz extermination camp. His son joined him and stayed with him during the selection.

Recordings In Defiance of Fate. Compositions arranged by Fritz Weiss for the Emil Ludvík Orchestra. Unique recordings from 1940–41. Jewish Museum in Prague, 2003. [CD]. ŽMP006.