Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner was not only Hitler's favorite composer, but a famously anti-semitic icon as well. His music was banned from Israel until about twenty years ago, and for good reason. In 1850, granted this was many years before World War II, Wagner wrote "Das Judenthum in der Musik" (translation: Jewishness in Music), an essay attacking the Jewish people. Wagner states that it was because of the Jewish people's "alien appearance and behavior" that "we always felt instinctively repelled by any actual, operative contact with them." This sick and twisted image of the Jewish people was readily promoted by Wagner. Although he used a pseudonym when he first published this essay, he eagerly signed his name when he republished it, in order to spark more controversy and possibly help convince others into following his ideas. In short, Wagner publicly wished that the Jews were exterminated even before the Holocaust was thought of. On the topic of art and music, Wagner argued that, "Jewish musicians were only capable of producing shallow and artificial music." This truly fabricated statement would understandably lead one to think that this man would never be able to gain a Jewish supporter. However, despite all of his hateful comments, Wagner had numerous Jewish friends and fans. The reason for this remains unknown, and it still confuses me at this very moment, regardless of my great deal of thought on the subject. Nevertheless, Wagner was still a notorious anti-semite and there's no question whether or not his hateful words will ever be forgotten by the victims of these declarations and he made sure of that.

Sources:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Wagner.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner#Opinions_on_Jews_and_Judaism