Karlrobert Kreiten

German pianist. 26th. June1916 - 1943. Was seen by Wilhelm Furtwängler and others as one of the most talented young pianists in Germany. Born in Bonn, of alsatian parentage. Mother Emmy Kreiten-Barido, classical singer; father Theo Kreiten, concert pianist.

Debuted at age 11 with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's piano concerto in A-Major, in a live broadcast . Was educated in Vienna by Claudio Arrau.

Was betrayed by Nazi Ellen Ott-Monecke, who notified the Gestapo about Kreiten making negative remarks about Adolf Hitler and the war effort.. Was indicted at the Volksgerichtshof, Roland Freisler presiding, and condemned to death. Friends and family frantically tried to save his life, but to no avail. The family was never notified officially about the judgement, and only accidentally learned that Karlrobert had been executed, with 185 other inmates, at Pl"tzensee prison.

His execution triggered a wave of hateful articles in the German press about this "treacherous" artist. Prominent journalist Werner Höfer had to retire in 1987 when his particularly infamous articles about Kreiten became known to a wider public.

for more information: http://www.fkoester.de/kreiten/home/seite1.html