Wilhelm Heckmann

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Wilhelm Heckmann (26 June 1897 – 10 March 1995) was a German concert and easy listening musician. He grew up in Altena, Westphalia, the son of innkeeper Adolf Heckmann. He served in World War I with the Imperial German Army. After the war he studied singing and piano in Hagen and began performing in the 1920s, earning the nickname “Rhineland Tenor.” He also worked as a silent film musician in Altena and Wuppertal, and in the early 1930s he performed in Stuttgart, Gotha and Düsseldorf.

When the Nazi regime tightened its control of culture, Heckmann was arrested on 29 July 1937 in Passau under Paragraph 175, the law used against homosexuality, and sent to Dachau concentration camp. At the start of World War II he was moved to Mauthausen in Austria, where he worked in the Viennese Trench quarry. Around 1940 he formed a musical trio for the camp’s casino, and after autumn 1942 Himmler ordered the establishment of a camp orchestra, which Heckmann helped organize. In the orchestra he served as singer and accordion player and remained among prisoners who performed for high-ranking guests. This work spared him the harshest labor, though he still did difficult tasks elsewhere in the camp.

After the liberation of Mauthausen on 5 May 1945, Heckmann faced difficulties rebuilding his career. He applied for compensation in 1954, but his claim was denied in 1960. From 1945 to 1964 he worked as a professional musician and solo entertainer in hotels and restaurants across Germany. Wilhelm Heckmann died in Wuppertal on 10 March 1995 at the age of 97.