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Authors: Mark Edward Hall
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message hidden inside Wagner’s complex musical structures and that the message was a road map for world domination.
“Although Mengele didn’t pursue music as a career, he took it up as a hobby and eventually he became a pretty fair musician. He studied Wagner and eventually became somewhat of a scholar on the man and his musical genius. He came to believe that he understood his message better than anyone who had come before him. He knew that notes of certain sequences when played just so, could affect listeners in odd ways. We all know that, to a certain degree, music does affect mood. It’s part of why we listen to and create it. It’s why certain songs make us want to dance, or make love, or uplift us, or even depress us. Mengele somehow understood all of that on a more intellectual, perhaps even on a more visceral level than most, and though he himself was only a fair musician, he was in a unique position to manipulate the creativity of others to suit his own designs.”
“Like he’s doing with you now?”
Jeremiah dropped his eyes to the floor and nodded. “He used human beings as guinea pigs. He would strap headphones to their ears and play different selections from Wagner’s operas, operettas, and symphonies. He would play them in different sequences, backward and forward. In his experimentations, he discovered that certain note sequences would cause people to react in odd ways. Sometimes, he would play the same passages over and over again, turning the volume up each time until the patient was either deaf or mad or both. He discovered that certain harmonics could actually kill people. Some would affect patients on such a deeply emotional level that they would commit suicide.
“Although most of Mengele’s experiments were done using Wagner’s compositions, eventually he came to believe that he could compose something magical himself. He believed, as did Hitler, Hess, and the others who made up the Third Reich’s elite, that magic powers had been bestowed upon them by some sort of divine intervention, thus destiny was on their side and they could not fail.
“His intention was to create something exotic, a body of music that would draw the listener in and captivate him with its beauty and complexity, but contain a secret key, a magic message that would have the power to cause madness and chaos. He didn’t even know that it was possible until he met my father. You see, Mengele was not a great composer, and as much as he believed that providence was on his side, he was on the road to failure.
“After taking up his post at Auschwitz, he began recruiting musicians, desperately trying to find just the right ones to accomplish what he believed could be accomplished. Some of the most brilliant minds in Europe were being wasted in the gas chambers—and that included musicians and composers—and Mengele decided to do something about it. With his vision and intellect and the genius pool he had to choose from, he could not fail.”
“Jeremiah,” I said. “There is nothing in the history books about this. Yes, Mengele was an evil genius, everybody knows that, but he was a medical doctor. He worked with genetics, not music, he was fascinated with twins. He tried manipulating their genes by doing all kinds of horrendous and barbaric things to them. He would exchange their blood and inject colored dyes into their eyes. His interest, like Hitler’s, was in breeding a pure Arian race.”
“That was his day job,” Jeremiah said. “His real passion was secret, known only to a select few of his inner circle; and he had Hitler’s support. Their intention was to stun the world with a new kind of power.”
“Jesus,” I said. “That’s what he’s up to now, isn’t it? He’s never given up the dream.”
“That’s right,” Jeremiah said. “He was cut off in mid-stream, now he’s come back and he wants to play some more.”
“He’s using you to get his wish. You can’t let him.”
Jeremiah made
“Although Mengele didn’t pursue music as a career, he took it up as a hobby and eventually he became a pretty fair musician. He studied Wagner and eventually became somewhat of a scholar on the man and his musical genius. He came to believe that he understood his message better than anyone who had come before him. He knew that notes of certain sequences when played just so, could affect listeners in odd ways. We all know that, to a certain degree, music does affect mood. It’s part of why we listen to and create it. It’s why certain songs make us want to dance, or make love, or uplift us, or even depress us. Mengele somehow understood all of that on a more intellectual, perhaps even on a more visceral level than most, and though he himself was only a fair musician, he was in a unique position to manipulate the creativity of others to suit his own designs.”
“Like he’s doing with you now?”
Jeremiah dropped his eyes to the floor and nodded. “He used human beings as guinea pigs. He would strap headphones to their ears and play different selections from Wagner’s operas, operettas, and symphonies. He would play them in different sequences, backward and forward. In his experimentations, he discovered that certain note sequences would cause people to react in odd ways. Sometimes, he would play the same passages over and over again, turning the volume up each time until the patient was either deaf or mad or both. He discovered that certain harmonics could actually kill people. Some would affect patients on such a deeply emotional level that they would commit suicide.
“Although most of Mengele’s experiments were done using Wagner’s compositions, eventually he came to believe that he could compose something magical himself. He believed, as did Hitler, Hess, and the others who made up the Third Reich’s elite, that magic powers had been bestowed upon them by some sort of divine intervention, thus destiny was on their side and they could not fail.
“His intention was to create something exotic, a body of music that would draw the listener in and captivate him with its beauty and complexity, but contain a secret key, a magic message that would have the power to cause madness and chaos. He didn’t even know that it was possible until he met my father. You see, Mengele was not a great composer, and as much as he believed that providence was on his side, he was on the road to failure.
“After taking up his post at Auschwitz, he began recruiting musicians, desperately trying to find just the right ones to accomplish what he believed could be accomplished. Some of the most brilliant minds in Europe were being wasted in the gas chambers—and that included musicians and composers—and Mengele decided to do something about it. With his vision and intellect and the genius pool he had to choose from, he could not fail.”
“Jeremiah,” I said. “There is nothing in the history books about this. Yes, Mengele was an evil genius, everybody knows that, but he was a medical doctor. He worked with genetics, not music, he was fascinated with twins. He tried manipulating their genes by doing all kinds of horrendous and barbaric things to them. He would exchange their blood and inject colored dyes into their eyes. His interest, like Hitler’s, was in breeding a pure Arian race.”
“That was his day job,” Jeremiah said. “His real passion was secret, known only to a select few of his inner circle; and he had Hitler’s support. Their intention was to stun the world with a new kind of power.”
“Jesus,” I said. “That’s what he’s up to now, isn’t it? He’s never given up the dream.”
“That’s right,” Jeremiah said. “He was cut off in mid-stream, now he’s come back and he wants to play some more.”
“He’s using you to get his wish. You can’t let him.”
Jeremiah made
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