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Julie Andrews said she literally could "feel the evil" when visiting the Von Trapp house

The story behind the movie might be more interesting than the movie itself.

Image via Wikicommons

Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music

Sometimes the story behind the movie is more interesting than the story in the movie.

In her autobiography, Home Work, Julie Andrews shared some of her experiences filming The Sound of Music. Andrews spoke with BuzzFeed News about her book, revealing her thoughts on the actual von Trapp family house. The movie musical, which is based on a section of the real-life Maria von Trapp's book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, was shot in a Hollywood studio.

The classic scene of Julie Andrews spinning in a meadow was shot in Bavaria, and the exteriors of the von Trapp house were filmed at a different house entirely.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com


Andrews did visit the von Trapp house in Salzburg, Austria later on in her life.

"It wasn't until much later that I happened to visit the real villa where they actually lived," she told BuzzFeed News. During her visit, Andrews said she could "feel the evil that once permeated those walls." The evil Andrews refers to is, of course, the Nazis. "Because after they fled the country, which they had to do, as in the film, [Heinrich] Himmler took over that villa, and the atrocities there were just terrible," she continued.

The story behind the von Trapp house is much darker than what's touched on in the splashy Hollywood musical. The actual von Trapp family lived in the house from 1923 until they fled Austria in 1938. In 1938, the Nazis annexed Austria, making life hard for the singing family. Georg von Trapp refused to fly the Nazi flag on his house, and declined a request to sing at Hilter's birthday party. There was fear their neighbors would spy on them and their children would become brainwashed by Nazi politics. Even though the family was offered fame, they decided to stay true to their principals and leave Austria.

Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music, musicals, Germany, World War 2, Nazi Germany, Von TrappChristopher Plummer and Julie Andrews on location in Salzburg, 1964upload.wikimedia.org

Not one year later, the house was occupied by Nazis. Heinrich Himmler used the house as his summer residence until 1945.

Himmler was the second most powerful man of the Third Reich. Himmler set up and ran the Nazi concentration camps. The house was surrounded by armed guards and barbed wires. A barracks for the SS was built in the garden. Himmler also built the white wall around the house using slave labor. After the wall was completed, he had those who constructed the wall shot. Very monstrous.

Now, the von Trapp house is a more peaceful place. In 1947, the property was purchased from the von Trapp family by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. In 2008, it opened to the public as a hotel.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

While the house has a heavy history, the previous residents of the property took satisfaction in knowing the von Trapps resisted the Nazi party. "What Himmler did here is a heavy weight on the house," Precious Blood Fr. Andreas Hasenburger, the rector of the Kolleg St. Josef, told the National Catholic Reporter. "But we are also proud to live in the von Trapp house, the house of the man who said no to the Führer."

It takes a lot of guts to stand up for what you believe in, especially when you're pressured to forfeit your integrity. Knowing that the family gave up their life to stay true to their principals makes The Sound of Music so much better.

This article originally appeared five years ago.

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Identity

Arnold Schwarzenegger uses his Nazi dad to explain the dangers of antisemitism in a chilling video

After a rise in antisemitism, Arnold needed to speak his truth.

via Arnold Schwarzenegger/YouTube

Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks out against antisemitism.

Like a flame that never seems to get completely snuffed out, antisemitism is again on the rise in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says that the number of documented reports of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jewish people has risen to the highest level since it began recording these incidents in 1979.

The ADL says that antisemitic incidents have steadily increased since 2016.

The pain is felt among the Jewish community, of which 41% say that the status of Jews in the U.S. is less secure than it was the year before. Thirty-one percent agreed with the same statement in 2021.

This disturbing trend inspired actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to speak out. Interestingly, he didn’t direct his words at those who stand against hate but at those who may have "stumbled... into the wrong path."

In his speech, he tried to explain how being a bigot is a sign of weakness and failure to take responsibility for one’s life.

Schwarzenegger has first-hand knowledge of the pain of being an antisemite because his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a Nazi who fought in World War II. The elder Schwarzenegger was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as the Storm Troopers or Brownshirts, and fought in some of the war's most brutal conflicts.

"I don't know the road that has brought you here, but I've seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs," he said in the video. "So I want to speak with you before you find your regrets at the end of that path."

The actor noted that when his father and many men like him returned from war, they were "broken men" who were "riddled with guilt."

"They felt like losers, not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell for horrible, loser ideology. They were lied to and misled into a path that ended in misery," Schwarzenegger continued. "...In the end, it didn't really matter why they joined [the Nazis]. They were all broken in the same way. That's the bottom line here."

Schwarzenegger was also moved to speak out because he had recently taken a trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where the Nazis killed 1.1 to 1.5 million people, mainly Jews. He was especially moved by seeing the possessions of those who died at the camp.

auschwitz, nazis, antisemitism

Shoes taken from prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp

via Superchilum/Wikimedia Commons

"The suitcases never claimed by the prisoners who were told to remember exactly where they'd left their belongings so they could retrieve them after they were finished with their showers...the gas chambers with scratches in the walls from the fingernails of people who tried to hold onto life...the crematorium, where the Nazis tried to erase all of their atrocities," Schwarzenegger recalled seeing.

At the end of his speech, Schwarzenegger reiterated his belief that people succumb to hatred due to personal weaknesses that can be overcome. "When you spend your life looking for scapegoats, you take away your own responsibility. You remove your own power. You steal your own strength," he said. "...You have to give up your war against everyone you hate...The war you really have to fight is the war against yourself."

But, he believes there’s still hope for people to overcome their bigotry.

"There's still time for you," he said. "Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind."

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Education

School removed a quote from a Holocaust survivor, unintentionally proving his point

"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim."

via Wikimedia Commons

Elie Wiesel at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2008.

A school principal in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, asked the librarian to remove a poster featuring a quote by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel because it violated the district’s “advocacy” policy. This story was first reported by WHYY.

The poster was removed two days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“If I didn’t take it down, I knew there would be consequences that could impact me,” Matt Pecic, the school librarian said. “It’s a horrible feeling. And you feel like you have to do something that you don’t agree with.”

The controversial policy says that district employees may not “advocate” to students on “partisan, political, or social policy matters,” or display any “flag, banner, poster, sign, sticker, pin, button, insignia, paraphernalia, photograph, or other similar material that advocates concerning any partisan, political, or social policy issue.”

On one hand, it makes sense because schools should foster an educational environment that isn’t steeped in politics. On the other, complete neutrality allows bad ideas to flourish.

The quote in question was from a speech Wiesel gave while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986:

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

Wiesel received the Nobel Prize for his efforts to defend human rights and peace around the world. He is best known as the author of “Night” (1960), a chilling book based on his experiences with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald from 1944 to 1945.

The irony of the school removing the poster is that it was in the name of staying neutral, while the quote was expressing the fact that neutrality always favors oppression. To take things a step further, Wiesel's quote was based on his experience living through the horrors of Nazi oppression. So he was advocating for something we can all agree on: basic human rights.

The school’s actions went public after the Bucks County Beacon posted about the story on Twitter. The tweet has been seen by over 430,000 people and sparked a lively discussion.

“Who would be providing the other side’s views?” Buckcho asked. “So maybe something from Mein Kampf? I don’t mean to state the obvious, but some statements do not have a balanced opposition,” Gail Kristin Upp responded.

The good news is that the posters were put back up the next day, and in a statement, the district noted that “Night” was part of its curriculum. The district also apologized “for any hurt or concerns this has caused, particularly for those in the Jewish community.”

After the school’s decision was reversed, Pecic papered the entrance to the library with the quote.

The story is a great reminder that even though there may be multiple sides to every argument, not all ideas should be treated equally. And even though we live in a world where everything seems political, there are certain ideas, such as basic human rights, that should always be held above the fray.

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A Kanye West fan forum responded to his antisemitism with a deluge of Holocaust education

A heartening response to his horrifying interviews.

Photo by Pixabay/Pexels

Train tracks leading into Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

Kanye West (who has legally changed his name to Ye) has been making headlines—again—not only for his bizarre public behavior, but for blatantly antisemitic remarks he made in recent interviews.

There's no question that Ye's comments praising Hitler and Nazis and denying that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust are hurtful and dangerous. There's no question that bad actors are using Ye's antisemitic comments to push their white nationalist agenda. The question is whether Ye fans would allow their admiration of his musical talents—or whatever else they like about him—to overshadow the fact that he is now regularly spewing pro-Nazi rhetoric to millions of people.

In at least one corner of the internet, fans are responding in what may be the most effective and meaningful way possible—by countering Ye's commentary with a deluge of Holocaust education and remembrance.

Reddit's r/kanye subreddit is a page dedicated to discussing all things Ye, and it currently has more than 700,000 members. After Ye's interviews on Tim Pool's podcast and Alex Jones' Infowars this past week, in which he spoke of loving Hitler and Nazis while complaining of being wronged by Jews, members began flooding the forum with posts about people who fought the Nazis in World War II, information about the victims of the Holocaust and remembrances of those who were murdered in the genocide.

It was a heartening response to Ye's horrific views, and especially powerful coming from people who consider (or considered) themselves huge fans of the artist.

One example is this post of a photo showing emaciated prisoners of Buchenwald concentration camp with a quote from Ye's Infowars appearance, in which he said, "I don't like the word 'evil' next to Nazis."

from Kanye

Another poster shared a photo of three survivors of Auschwitz, the largest Nazi death camp, showing the tattoos of their prison camp numbers on their forearms.

from Kanye

Another shared a photo of the "Book of Names" at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where the names of those murdered in the Holocaust are written.

from Kanye

Dozens of posts shared in the subreddit include photos of Jewish children who had their childhoods destroyed, people who suffered in concentration camps, heroes of the Holocaust who helped saved lives and more. Judging from the posts and comments, there appears to be widespread agreement on the subreddit that Ye's antisemitism must be condemned in the strongest terms and that people need to know that his statements about the Holocaust are wrong.

"This is officially a Holocaust awareness sub," wrote one poster who shared an infographic about how many young people are woefully uninformed about that piece of human history.

The transformation of the subreddit is a testament to the power of social media. Though misinformation spreads fast and social media can easily become a cesspool of toxicity, when people use it for good it can be a place where reasonable, righteous voices rise to the top.

It's certainly sad and frustrating for folks who have felt a connection with Ye's music to witness him spiraling further and further into bigoted madness. Feeling the need to speak out against someone who has been a positive force in your life isn't a comfortable spot to be in. But there are views that are unconscionable and messages that simply cannot be tolerated, and Ye's remarks egregiously cross both of those lines.

Fandom doesn't mean fanaticism and no reasonable person can possibly defend the antisemitism Ye is pushing. (Heck, some of the most unreasonable people aren't even trying to defend it.) Whatever his mental health situation may be, attacking Jews and supporting Nazis is wrong and harmful and needs to be named as such.

Simply calling it out isn't enough, though, when falsehoods flow freely. Sharing accurate education about the Holocaust so that people can gain a deeper understanding of the scale and systemization of the world's largest genocide is one way to not just call out antisemitism but to battle it with truth. The Holocaust carried out by Hitler and the Nazis is a historical reality no one should remain ignorant of and no one should get a pass for denying, no matter how famous or once beloved they may be.

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