A Theresienstadt singer has died, aged 92
mainEdgar Krasa, who took part in the Verdi Requiem performance that the Nazi used to fool Red Cross visitors to their ‘model’ concentration camp in June 1944, has passed away in Boston, Mass..
Deported to Theresienstadt in 1941, Edgar was sent to Auschwitz after the Requiem and somehow survived.
After a decade in Israel, were he founded a school for cooks, he migrated to Boston, where he ran a restaurant.
He was not related to Hans Krasa, composer of Brundibar, though they were friends in Theresienstadt.
I would be eager to hear the “somehow survived” element of that.
What exactly do you mean by that? Surely you know of Auschwitz??
It’s a straightforward question, Heath of the multiple indignant question marks.
Yes, I surely do know about Auschwitz and the stories of survival tend to be unique combinations of factors like chance, cleverness, sudden opportunities, organizational breakdowns, individual connections, timing and a hundred other possibilities.
And so I asked, as no clues were given in the original article.
Thanks, Stephen, for actually answering my question with a link.
Once again, another unique story.
Imagine getting shot at point-blank range, left for dead, but surviving with just a bullet stuck in the ribs.
The Defiant Requiem Foundation presents performances of the Verdi Requiem, with added narration, around the world to commemorate the several performances organized and led by Rafael Schächter in Terezin. Edgar Krasa, who sang there under Schächter and was his roommate, has been a part of many of these, speaking to performers and audiences about his experiences. His two sons have sung in the chorus for many of the Defiant Requiem events, and I was pleased to sing with them when I participated in performances in New York, Washington, and Boston. There’s a good biography of Edgar Krasa, which explains how he escaped, at https://www.defiantrequiem.org/survivor-stories/edgar-krasa/
He was 92, not 95. Please refer to https://www.defiantrequiem.org/survivor-stories/edgar-krasa/ and also https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/12/edgar-krasa-holocaust-survivor-who-kept-alive-story-terezin-chorus-dies/9NIEn4F54IZ5AROmsbhtfM/story.html. I think this requires an update.