Headline, parts of story irresponsible

I am writing in response to the article, "Elgin Heritage Commission member quits over artist's Hitler claim"

The headline of the article is irresponsible at best. There is not and never was an "artist's Hitler claim" by my mother or in any biographical information about her and certainly never any biographical information "touting" that fact.

That inflammatory formulation did not come from my mother and it is not in any of her biographical information. Your headline writers may think it a clever way to grab readers' attention but it mangles the truth and tarnishes the memory of my mother.

Second, the formulations in the first two paragraphs of the story are similarly misleading. I made it clear in a phone interview that to write that my mother "danced in front of Hitler" implies that she was some kind of itinerant dancer who begged favors of the rich and powerful.

In fact, as the Prima Ballerina of the Berlin Opera House, she danced before a general public, which included all the leaders of the Nazi regime. To me, therein lies the bigger moral question with which many artists at the time and since have grappled. One was the famous German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler. See the wonderful movie by Istvan Szabo, "Taking Sides," as well as his other movie dealing with a similar theme, "Mephisto."

My mother was always proud of what she had achieved -- a rare thing, indeed. That she grew up in Germany and was so young and caught up in great historical events does indeed raise big questions. But when issues are so poorly and ignorantly put forward, it only serves to make people get even more riled up.

I don't know who Shelley Barnett is, but rather than being laughed at and dismissed, her concerns should be addressed with accurate information and thoughtful, well-written and well-edited articles.

Frank Boehm

California