Songs of Suffering and Survival

In Nazi concentration camps, music was a weapon of torment and resistance. SS officers forced Jewish musicians, like violinist Shony Braun, to compete in humiliating life or death performances. They commanded orchestras in Auschwitz to play loud enough to cover up screams from gas chambers. Some prisoners, like Aleksander Kulisiewicz, turned to music to secretly record daily life, mock the Nazis, and spiritually escape the horrors. Each lyric, an act of defiance. Each note, proof that the human spirit could not be silenced.

Join us to experience works artists risked their lives to create during the Holocaust to expose life in Nazi camps and remember the victims. Live music will be performed during the reception and program.

Chairs 

• Amy Agami and Bill Schwartz

Host Committee

• Ann and Jay Davis
• Leah and Richard Davis
• Karen Lansky Edlin and Andrew Edlin
• Lynne and Jack Halpern
• The Hertz Family—Lila and Doug Hertz, Amy and Ronnie Agami, Emily and Michael Hertz
• Beth and Tommy Holder
• Joyce and Jay Schwartz
• Nina and Bill Schwartz
• Terry and Bobby Schwartz
• The Selig Family—Linda and Steve Selig, Cathy and Steve Kuranoff, Amy and Bryan Lewis, Erica and Greg Lewis, Stephanie and Blake Selig, Mindy and David Shoulberg
• Betty and Dr. Alan Sunshine
• Greer and Alex Taylor
• Ambassador Michèle and Doctor Kenneth Taylor
• Helen and David Zalik

Speakers

• Dr. Lindsay MacNeill, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Dr. Barbara Milewski, Daniel Underhill Professor of Music and department chair, Swarthmore College

Live performance

• Joe Alterman Trio