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Music and the Holocaust

@holocaustmusic.bsky.social
1.5K followers 28 following 3.1K posts

Reflecting the Music and the Holocaust website from World ORT. Posting music and history news, performances and remembrance events. Suggestions welcome.

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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
#OTD in 1933 the Editors Law (Schriftleitergesetz) forbade non-“Aryans” to work in journalism. Under the new law, the association kept registries of “racially pure” editors and journalists, and excluded Jews and those married to Jews from the profession. de.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Polish poet, writer and translator Jerzy Ficowski (born #OTD 1924) was a member of the Polish resistance. He was imprisoned in the infamous Pawiak and took part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Organist, choirmaster, composer and writer Ernst Maschke was born #OTD in 1867. On 8 Oct 1936 the then 69-year-old was subjected to a professional ban. After denunciation, Gestapo invaded his house and he suffered stroke which killed him on 29 Mar 1940. www.lexm.uni-hamburg...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Pianist and pedagogue Wanda Kopecka was born #OTD 1885. In 1941, she was forced into the Warsaw ghetto but continued to teach. Caught in the deportations of Jews from the ghetto in Oct 1942, she was murdered in Treblinka. czestochowa.wyborcza...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Jewish musicologist, composer, playwright, poet, and painter Arno Nadel was born #OTD in 1878. Although he had an exit visa to England, he was too weak to make the journey. On 12 Mar 1943 he was deported to Auschwitz where he was murdered the same year. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Administrative and artistic director Werner Josef Levie was born #OTD 1903. He led the Berlin Judischer Kulturbund with Kurt Singer. Deported to Bergen-Belsen, he died of typhus on a train near Tröbitz after liberation in May 1945. www.joodsmonument.nl...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Irma Trksak was born #OTD 1917. Involved in Czech cultural, theatre and music groups, she said "Singing was for me—I would say always—life-saving. It was a part of my nature, it always and in every situation helped me, to sing." holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
First violin at the Vienna Philharmonic Max Starkmann (born OTD in 1880) was deported on Oct 5 1942 with his wife Elsa Starkmann to the extermination center at Maly Trostinec near Minsk where he was murdered soon after. wphdata.blob.core.wi...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Danish pianist and composer Herman David Koppel was born #OTD in 1908. In 1943 he fled with his family to Sweden and became a pianist of the Örebro Symfoniorkester. de.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Jan van Gilse was appointed director of the Ultrecht Conservatory #OTD in 1933, a post he accepted upon leaving Berlin after the rise of the Nazis. He refused to join the RMK and his work was banned as a consequence. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Israeli composer Ödön Pártos was born #OTD in 1907 in Hungary. In 1934 he escaped Berlin and returned to Budapest. He eventually immigrated to British Mandatory Palestine in 1938 when invited to join the Palestine Orchestra. de.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Viennese conductor Karl Rankl was born #OTD in 1898. At the outbreak of WWII, he took refuge in England and became a British citizen. He became music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1946, where he had a great impact. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Wolfgang (Wolfi) Lederer was a pianist, accordionist and conductor born in Berlin #OTD in 1918. He survived Terezin where he played accordion and piano. After the war, he was a successful jazz pianist. cuislandora.wrlc.org...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Lily Assael, born #OTD 30 September 1909 in Salonica, was a Greek Jewish musician who, with her sister Yvette, played accordion in the Auschwitz orchestra. She survived Auschwitz and died in New York on Aug 3, 1990. de.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
German school teacher Clara Rupp was born in Konzelsau #OTD in 1901. After 1933 she was fired and several times arrested for communist resistance until transported as one of the first prisoners to Ravensbrueck on 25.05.1939. She survived. full-english-books.n...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Composer, pianist and musicologist James Simon was born #OTD in 1880 in Berlin. In spring 1944, he was sent to Westerbork and, on April 4, was one of a 1000 inmates deported to Terezín. On 12 October he boarded the transport to Auschwitz. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Composer and copy writer Robert Gilbert was born #OTD in 1899. Gilbert enjoyed a few successes but his potential composing career was interupted by exile in the Bronx. He had more success copy wrting for Hans Eisler and Werner Richard Heymann. www.lexm.uni-hamburg...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Bandleader, jazz clarinettist and arranger, Fritz (Bedřich) Weiss (born #OTD 1919) was sent to Theresienstadt in 1942 where he formed the Ghetto Swingers. Unable to conduct his old band, he smuggled arrangements to them. Weiss died in Auschwitz aged 25. www.radio.cz/de/rubr...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Pianist and music teacher Gertrude Granirer Flor was born #OTD 1921. After the Soviets retreated in 1941, the Germans occupied Czernowitz. She faced deportation, hardship in labor camps, and physical abuse. collections.ushmm.or...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In 1933 the German actor and opera singer Kurt von Ruffin (born #OTD in 1901) was imprisoned for 9 months in Lichtenburg by the Nazis for his homosexuality. He was able to act during the war but only in theatre after his prohibition. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In liquidation transports from September 28 to October 28, 1944 around 18,400 people were deported to Auschwitz, among them the composers Pavel Haas, Hans Krása, Gideon Klein, and Viktor Ullmann. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pianist Elly Ney (27 September 1882 – 31 March 1968) joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and performed in "cultural education" camps. www.deutsche-biograp...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pianist and conductor Jean Berger was born was born as Arthur Schloßberg #today in 1922. While working as the assistant conductor at an opera house in Mannheim, he was forcibly removed from a rehearsal by Brown Shirts. www.milkenarchive.or...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Josef Wormser a choirmaster and teacher, was born #OTD in 1893. On 8 Sep 1942 he was transported to Terezín then to Auschwitz on 29 Jan 1943 where he was murdered. www.bundesarchiv.de/...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Pianist and conductor Alfred Cortot (born #OTD in 1877) was arrested on 2nd September 1944. After the war, Cortot was found guilty of collaboration with the enemy in France and suspended from performing for a year. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Pianist and conductor Alfred Cortot (born #OTD in 1877) was arrested on 2nd September 1944. After the war, Cortot was found guilty of collaboration with the enemy in France and suspended from performing for a year. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Singer, actor and master of ceremonies Avram Ovitz was born #OTD in 1903. He was part of the Lilliput Troupe who, after capture in Hungary, were subjected, because of their dwarfism, to experimentation by Mengele in Auschwitz. www.theguardian.com/...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Violinist and amateur composer, Karel Štancl (born #OTD in 1919) co-founded the ‘Sing Sing Boys’ in Sachsenhausen in 1941. He survived and published his memoirs, "We Sang for Life" in Czech in 1993. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Violinist and amateur composer, Karel Štancl (born #OTD in 1919) co-founded the ‘Sing Sing Boys’ in Sachsenhausen in 1941. He survived and published his memoirs, "We Sang for Life" in Czech in 1993. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
German baritone Hermann Weil was loyal to German classical music and to the Stuttgart Court Opera for 30 years before his dismissal in Mar 1933. He was exiled in 1939, never to return. dewiki.de/Lexikon/He...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
German baritone Hermann Weil was loyal to German classical music and to the Stuttgart Court Opera for 30 years before his dismissal in Mar 1933. He was exiled in 1939, never to return. dewiki.de/Lexikon/He...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Singer Martha Schlamme (nee Haftel) was born to Orthodox Jews in Vienna #OTD in 1923. Forced to flee in 1938 she joined her family as 'enemy aliens' on the Isle of Man where she made her debut, appearing in a German-language production of As You Like It. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Dmitri Schostakowitsch was born #OTD in 1906. In 1962 he read Evgeny Evtushenko's poem on Babi Yar and set it as part of a symphonic work that would include five movements. Despite attempts to censor the performance, the premiere was held on 18 Dec 1962 holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Singer Martha Schlamme (nee Haftel) was born to Orthodox Jews in Vienna #OTD in 1923. Forced to flee in 1938 she joined her family as 'enemy aliens' on the Isle of Man where she made her debut, appearing in a German-language production of As You Like It. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Dmitri Schostakowitsch was born #OTD in 1906. In 1962 he read Evgeny Evtushenko's poem on Babi Yar and set it as part of a symphonic work that would include five movements. Despite attempts to censor the performance, the premiere was held on 18 Dec 1962 holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Participation in anti-Nazi plays meant Jaroslav Ježek (born #OTD 1906) was forced to leave Czechoslovakia. He went into exile in New York where he worked as a piano teacher and choirmaster. In January 1942, after chronic illness he died of kidney disease. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Participation in anti-Nazi plays meant Jaroslav Ježek (born #OTD 1906) was forced to leave Czechoslovakia. He went into exile in New York where he worked as a piano teacher and choirmaster. In January 1942, after chronic illness he died of kidney disease. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Composer and conductor Andrzej Panufnik was born #OTD in 1914. An anti-Nazi, he left his studies when Austria was annexed and performed in cafes with Witold Lutosławksi, composing resistance songs and raising money for the resistance and Jewish artists. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Composer and conductor Andrzej Panufnik was born #OTD in 1914. An anti-Nazi, he left his studies when Austria was annexed and performed in cafes with Witold Lutosławksi, composing resistance songs and raising money for the resistance and Jewish artists. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
German harpsichord and recorder player, editor and composer Walter Bergmann was arrest by the Gestapo in Jun 1938 and suffered 3 months of imprisonment. He emigrated to London in Mar 1939 but was interned from Jul 1940 on the Isle of Man. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Gertrud Rittmann (born #OTD in 1908) was a German Jewish composer and music arranger who lived and worked for much of her life in the United States. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The Berlin Judische Kulturbund management had a hall built for chamber concerts next to the Herrnfeld Theatre, which began showing films #OTD 1939. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
German harpsichord and recorder player, editor and composer Walter Bergmann was arrest by the Gestapo in Jun 1938 and suffered 3 months of imprisonment. He emigrated to London in Mar 1939 but was interned from Jul 1940 on the Isle of Man. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Gertrud Rittmann (born #OTD in 1908) was a German Jewish composer and music arranger who lived and worked for much of her life in the United States. en.wikipedia.org/wik...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The Berlin Judische Kulturbund management had a hall built for chamber concerts next to the Herrnfeld Theatre, which began showing films #OTD 1939. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Max (Salomon Meyer) Kannewasser was Jones of the Amsterdam jazz-duo Johnny & Jones. He was born #OTD 1916. While incarcerated in Westerbork the duo managed to clandestinely record the song "Westerbork Serenade". holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Max (Salomon Meyer) Kannewasser was Jones of the Amsterdam jazz-duo Johnny & Jones. He was born #OTD 1916. While incarcerated in Westerbork the duo managed to clandestinely record the song "Westerbork Serenade". holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Conductor, composer and piano teacher Günther Berent (born #OTD 1902 in Gdańsk) studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin. He was included in the anti-Semitic text, Lexikon der Juden in der Musik and took exile in NY. www.lexm.uni-hamburg...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Educationist and conductor, Rudolph Freudenfeld was born #OTD 1921 and lived in Prague before deportatation to Terezin. He worked on Brundibar while there. Having survived the camp he changed his name to Franek and started teaching again in Prague. www.holocaust.cz/dej...
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Music and the Holocaust @holocaustmusic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Vilna ghetto was liquidated #OTD in 1943, its last survivors either killed or sent to camps. When the city was liberated by the Soviet army in July 1944, there were only a few hundred Jewish survivors left. holocaustmusic.ort.o...
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