Leo Geyer, a doctoral student at Oxford University has unearthed a manuscript of Kołysanka (Lullaby), composed in Auschwitz in 1941 by a Polish political prisoner, Adam Kopyciński. The composer survived the camp and lived on in Poland until 1982.
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Mr, Geyer ought to learn how to pronounce the name of the composer. He missed a syllable.
Haunting piece — astounding to think such a thing could be created in that hell on earth.
Sounds very hopeful which is probably how he survived.
There is much myth and folklore surrounding the German internment camps during WWII. Little if any attention is given to the Soviet gulags. Theatre, music, athletics, a monetary system, even a swimming pool are all ammenities to be had at some of the German camps. Club Med, of course not, but in contrast to the Soviet gulags, which were primitive, the German camps were in some regards civil in comparison. NOTE: I am NOT condoning forced labor. I am simply making a comparison of two types of internment camps. It goes without saying that neither were right or humane. The truth of the matter is that the victor of war writes the history.
I wonder if there will be a Gaza lullaby in the future…we need to learn from the pass…
Sure thing…soon as the Hostages are returned
Yes, but apart from thaaaaaaat…
A minor detail, a “footnote” for you?
“Learn from the past”? exactly! jews will not allow the palestinazi to kill jews so easily anymore, nor eliminate Israel as the majority of Palestinazi, Jihadists and their InterNAZIonal Socialist supporters in the west left wings: each generation with its own useful idiots. I’m sure you care about “numbers”, so check first the numbers of how many each arab dictators killed of his own people in the countries around Israel. Yours, a proud “whataboutist”.
So beautiful! Bravo to this diligent young doctoral student for bringing this lovely waltz to light. And thank you, Norman for sharing it with us.
About the composer:
“Adam Kopyciński, a Polish conductor and composer, was imprisoned in Auschwitz during World War II as a political prisoner. He was not Jewish; rather, he was a Polish national detained for political reasons. During his imprisonment, Kopyciński served as the conductor of the men’s orchestra in Auschwitz, a role that involved complex moral challenges.
Kopyciński, remarkably, survived Auschwitz & went on to became a founder and conductor of the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra. He passed away on October 3, 1982, in Wrocław, Poland.”
“Auschwitz was originally built to imprison ethnic Poles, often political prisoners like Maestro Kopyciński. It wasn’t until 1942 that the Germans began holding Jewish prisoners there.
Between 1940 and 1945, approximately 130,000 to 150,000 ethnic Poles were imprisoned at Auschwitz. Of these, an estimated 70,000 to 75,000 perished due to executions, forced labor, starvation, disease, and medical experiments.
Initially, Poles constituted the majority of Auschwitz’s prisoner population until mid-1942, when the mass deportation of Jews began.”
With this in mind, please don’t accuse Polish people of being complicit with the Nazis or of being anti-semitic. Ethnic Poles, like Maestro Kopyciński, were persecuted by the Nazis and held in the camps en masse, often long before Jewish prisoners arrived, most notably at Auschwitz. They were not in any way complicit.
Thank you for remembering that, and thank you for this lovely waltz.
I doubt that anyone accuses the Polish people, as an entirety, of either antisemitism or complicity in the Holocaust. However, Jewish Poles (who, in any event, wouldn’t have been considered “Poles,” but simply “Jews” by the majority population) feared the majority; there may have been legitimate reasons for this. And, as historian Jan T. Gross showed in his thoroughly researched book “Neighbors” (about my grandmother’s hometown, Jedwabne), there were undoubtedly cases in which the local population assisted Nazi murderers, or even took the lead. But this was not unlike the situation in other countries, such as Ukraine, France, the Netherlands, etc. A population’s own history as a victim of persecution does not excuse its actions against another, as we continue to see today.
Actually, the evidence of Polish antisemitism and complicity in the Holocaust is so glaring it’s hard to ignore. Even after the war ended, many Polish Jews returned to their homes only to find them forcibly occupied. The new Polish inhabitants refused to budge. In many villages Jews started to be accused of violent crimes, triggering a bout of modern-day pogroms. You really have to be a sick society if, after witnessing first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust, you then continue to murder and discriminate against Jews even after the war is over.
Correction – Lullaby not waltz.