"National Art": Brazil's culture minister echoed Goebbels's words - and was ousted

In the video he uploaded, Minister Roberto Albim spoke of the importance of "national and heroic" art, to the background of Wagner's music - Hitler's favorite composer. His remarks, which sounded almost identical to the Nazi propaganda minister's speech, provoked a stir until President Bolsonaro dismissed him from his government: "rejecting totalitarian ideologies"

"National Art": Brazil's culture minister echoed Goebbels's words - and was ousted

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Brazil's culture minister was fired on Friday after posting a video with parts of Nazi Germany propaganda speaker Joseph Goebbels - sparking a storm. In a video posted in his office's official Twitter account, Minister Roberto Elbim called for the creation of "heroic" and "national" art, using a phrasing that sounded almost identical to the words of the Nazi war criminal, and in the background, Richard Wagner's Lohengreen opera - Hitler's favorite composer.

President Jair Bolsonaro of the extreme right said it was a "regrettable" speech. Bolsonaro, a former military officer with a conservative worldview, has often blamed the arts and cultural works, including in films and textbooks, as "biased in favor of the left."

Following the storm in the country, he wrote in a tweet on Twitter that he "reiterates that we reject ideologies of totalitarianism and genocide, such as Nazism and Communism, as well as their entire conclusion. We also express our unqualified support for the Jewish community, that we are friends and share many shared values ​​with it. ".

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"There was a coincidence, but the sentence itself is perfect." Minister Shapiro, Albim (Photo: AP)

Brazil's Minister of Culture Roberto Albim on October 25, 2019 (Photo: AP)

Goebbels (Photo: AP)

In a six-minute video about the National Art Awards, Minister Albim said "Brazilian art of the next decade will be national and heroic, will be characterized by great emotional involvement and will be deeply connected to our people's most pressing aspirations, or it will be nothing."

Parts of the speech were identical to one of Goebbels' speeches. According to the book "Joseph Goebbels: Biography" by German historian Peter Longrich, who dedicated some of his works to the Holocaust, Nazi propaganda said: "The German art of the next decade will be heroic, it will be very factual and completely free of sentimentality, it will be national With a great pathos and commitment, or she'll be nothing. "

Goebbels headed the propaganda office responsible for glorifying the Führer Adolf Hitler, as well as brainwashing the people to obediently establish Nazi rule. His methods included censorship of the press and control of radio stations, as well as in the cultural and arts industries.

In a Facebook post, Albim, an eight-time theater director for the Brazilian government, claimed last year that "the left created a false link" between the two speeches, and that "there was nothing wrong" with what he said. "The entire speech was based on a national ideal for Brazilian art, and there was a coincidence with one sentence from Goebbels's speech. I never quoted it and never did. But that sentence is perfect in itself."

"Express unqualified support for the Jewish community." Bolsonaro (Photo: AP)

Brazil's President Javier Bolsonaro waves to his supporters during Brazil's Christmas celebration December 19, 2019 (Photo: AP)

Later, in another post he wrote, he claimed that "the speech was written based on some national art ideas suggested by his advisers." In none of the posts did he refer to the music that accompanied the video.

Among those calling for the ousting of the minister were the Brazilian Congress's lower House Speaker, Rodrigo Maya, who said that Elbim "crossed every border" in the video, which he called "unacceptable." The Israeli confederation in Brazil said "imitating Goebbels's view is A scary sign of his cultural vision that we must fight against him. "The Confederacy called for the immediate impeachment of elves, adding:" It does not come to Brazil, which sent troops to fight the Nazis on European soil. "

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