This week we observe Holocaust Rememberance Day as well as the 75-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, by hearing from three survivors of Auschwitz.
Historian and Yiddish Voice cohost Sholem Beinfeld provides introductory remarks with a brief historical overview.
Margaret (Martele) Friedman, originally from Groys-Kinyat (גרויס-קיניאַט), now Великі Ком'яти (Velyki Kom'yaty), Ukraine, who was deported to Auschwitz with her family from the Munkacs (Hungary) ghetto in spring 1944, sings lovely Yiddish songs that she learned as a child before the Holocaust.
Izzy (Yisroyl) Arbeiter, originally from Plotsk (פּלאָטסק), now Płock, Poland, a survivor of Auschwitz and past president and cofounder of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston, talks about his survival and liberation (interviewed by Iosif Lakhman ע״ה for and originally broadcast by The Yiddish Voice in 2005).
David (Dovid) Lenga, originally from Łódź, Poland (לאָדזש), who survived ghettos around Lodz, as well as Auschwitz, talks about his survival as well as his upcoming trip from Los Angeles to Poland, with over 200 former Auschwitz prisoners and Holocaust survivors, to attend the Auschwitz Memorial during the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, where they will sit in the first rows inside a tent that will be built over the historical gate of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp
Music:
The following sung by Martele Friedman, recorded by Yiddish Voice on Jan 1 2020:
Vi Nemt Men (Words and music by Ben-Tsion Whittler)
Lib Hobn un Tsuzogn (On the 78 it's credited to Morris Rund and Aaron Lebedoff (Lebedoff is most likely the lyricist))
Az Ikh Bin a Kabtsn (We would like to know: lyricist?, composer?)
Fraytik Tse Nakhts (Composed by Shuli Hollender, Martele's first cousin, who died right after the liberation.)
Harey At (We would like to know: lyricist?, composer?)
Af Dem Pripetshok (Oyfn Pripetchik) (Words and music by Mark Warshawsky)
Es Brent (Words and music by Mordkhe Gebirtig)
Tomer Her Ikh Muzik Shpiln (Words and music by a member of the singer's family)
Intro and Outro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
