It is not known exactly when photographer Arno Kikoler took this photograph of the symphony orchestra of the Kulturbund Deutscher Juden [Cultural Federation of German Jews] in Berlin. The photograph shows 38 members of the ensemble with their conductor Josef Rosenstock, who was appointed the orchestra’s director when it was founded in 1933 and continued in this post until 1936. Many of the musicians had previously been dismissed from their posts in orchestras and colleges following the enactment of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums).

Their first concert took place on 10 October 1933. They were very well received by the exclusively Jewish audiences. The orchestra gave 69 opera performances and 58 symphonic concerts in just the first ten months of its existence.

In 1936, Josef Rosenstock was briefly succeeded by conductor Hans Wilhelm Steinberg; the orchestra was then directed by Rudolf Schwarz until it was disbanded in 1941. There were also frequent changes among the ensemble members, since so many of them decided to emigrate. In 1936, a number of them were recruited for the newly founded Palestine Orchestra, thus giving them the opportunity to flee the country; these included Horst Salomon (horn), Heinrich Schiefer (trombone) and Kurt Sommerfeld (percussion).

The following musicians can be identified in the photograph: seated, Josef Rosenstock (conductor) (8th from left), Ilse Nathan (harp) (4th from right), Friedrich Polnauer (violin) (3rd from right); standing, Hedwig Wexberg (oboe) (6th from left), presumably Werner Seelig-Bass (piano, oboe) (10th from left), Kurt Sommerfeld (percussion) (11th from right), Leo Rostal (cello) (7th from right), Annie Roesler (cello) (5th from right).

Further reading:
Stompor, Stephan: Jüdisches Musik- und Theaterleben unter dem NS-Staat. Hannover: Europäisches Zentrum für Jüdische Musik 2001