Mimeo

In late 1935, the renowned violinist Licco (Liko) Amar held a concert at the Alman Lisesi (German High School) near Galata Tower in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu quarter. The Hungarian Jewish virtuoso conducted an orchestra of Turkish musicians performing pieces of Beethoven before local patricians, international guests, Turkish state representatives and members of the Nazi diplomatic mission to the Republic of Turkey. Among the attendees were also exiled German-Jewish scholars such as the philologist Leo Spitzer. At the end of the concert, an incident occurred: when Nazi diplomats came to congratulate the musicians, they explicitly avoided shaking the hand of the Jewish conductor. Spitzer’s response was unusual – and even dangerous.