(Wall Street Journal) Bryony Clarke - On June 23, 1944, a delegation of Nazi officials, including Adolf Eichmann, hosted representatives from the International Red Cross at an elaborately staged tour of Terezin concentration camp. The visit culminated with a performance by Terezin's inmate choir. Conductor Rafael Schachter chose to perform Giuseppe Verdi's "Requiem." "Schachter had his reasons" for performing Verdi, recalls Zdenka Fantlova, 96, a survivor of Terezin. It features a fearsome evocation of fire and fury, promises of posthumous punishment, and dire warnings of God's wrath. "Rafael said we would sing to the Nazis what we couldn't say to them," says Marianka May, 95, a Terezin survivor who sang in the choir. "The Latin words remind them that there is a judge, and one day they will answer to that judge." Schachter, a Czech conductor who led the camp's choir, faced many challenges. A transport to Auschwitz in September 1943 wiped out nearly all 150 members. Schachter had to start from scratch with new singers. May said, "Being in the choir gave us the wonderful ability to think about the next rehearsal, the next performance - it reminded us we come from a normal world. It was soul-saving....Those in the choir had a reason to stay alive." On Oct. 17, 1944, a transport took almost the entire choir, and its conductor, to Auschwitz. Schachter perished on a death march in the spring of 1945. Of the more than 150,000 Jews sent to Terezin, only 17,000 survived the war.
2018-08-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive