Page - 100 - in Entangled Entertainers - Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

100 | Entangled Entertainers without any restrictions. Hirsch assumed that the Volkssänger who had spoken out against the licenses and thus accepted the possibility of increased competition would not oppose him. Th is assumption would prove to be incorrect. From the Polish Performers to Polish Jews After the publication of his letter, Hirsch experienced massive hostility from his fellow Volkssänger. Only a very few took his side. A few days later, he was given the opportunity to comment on his actions in a broader context. To this end, Re- cher and Rötzer organized a public forum at Seifert’s Saal in the Viennese district of Hernals. Th e mee ting’s slogan was the “critical illumination of the Volkssänger Hirsch.” Th e meeting resulted in a fi erce battle of words and screaming matches. Th e commotion attracted the attention of many people on the street, who be- sieged Seifert’s Saal out of curiosity. Th e police had great diffi culty in keeping the crowd in check. By that point at the very latest, the meeting had turned into a spectacle for the masses. Th e hall where the meeting took place was already packed before it began. Albert Hirsch arrived with a group of about twenty supporters who were intent on supporting him against his critics. Not all seemed to be Volkssänger. Even at the beginning of the meeting it was clear that the warring camps would fi nd no reconciliation. Th e tensions between the two sides seemed to be too great, and no one was willing to rein in personal accusations. For example, Albert Hirsch and his son Adolfi attempted to compromise Recher by pointing out grammatical and syntactical errors that he had made in the invitation to the meeting. Hirsch and his son stated that these mistakes were proof of “what an inferior education the convener enjoys.”86 Th e fi rst upset occurred when Recher was elected chair- man and Spacek was elected his deputy. Hirsch and his supporters protested at the top of their voices. Because the participants at this meeting discussed not only Hirsch’s behavior regarding the Folies Caprice but also his other activities, the various statements and speeches that they made once again provide us informative insight into the Viennese Volkssänger milieu. Recher functioned as the main speaker during the meeting. His remarks, for example, make it clear why the December 1901 meet- ing’s mood had been so hostile toward Hirsch. Recher reminded the Viennese Volkssänger that Hirsch had been duping them for years. As an example, he names the Extrablatt (special edition) boycott. Th e Volkssänger had agreed to sever all contact with the Illustrirtes Wiener Extrablatt. According to Recher, Hirsch had undermined this agreement by continuing to send the newspaper information regarding the Viennese Volkssänger scene. As a result, this paper portrayed him in a positive light. Recher argued that by doing this Hirsch had employed unfair tactics to gain a competitive advantage over his fellow Volkssänger. In his ha- rangue of Hirsch, Recher also spoke of the relationship between the Volkssänger This open access edition has been made available under a CC BY 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched.