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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1991
Folk Songs Avenge Barbarities
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
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PURELY COMMENTARY
I
n the historiography of
the Holocaust there is the
accumulated record of
never total submission to the
inhumanities imposed upon
the Jewish victims. Even
under the most grueling
conditions there was de-
fiance and rejection of the
tyrannical. That did not br-
ing the desired relief. Only
the few succeeded in trium-
phing over the tyranny, but
the craving for self-help re-
emerged as spiritual de-
fiance.
In the earliest years of
humiliations, Jews con-
ducted religious services in
what were soon to become
death camps. When
available, there was Talit
u'Tefillin; holidays were
observed. There were
theaters in their ranks and
music prevailed.
There were artists who
portrayed the horrors and
much of their work remains
as evidence against the
Germany of Hitlerism.
There was and there con-
tinues to be debate over the
genuineness of resistance.
There was an undeniable
appearance of courageous
self-liberation. Often added
is evidence to prove it.
Now comes an unusually
elevating sort of resistance
in the form of music aveng-
ing the Nazi crime. It is the
performance of a non-Jewish
survivor who was singing as
a means of expressing
hatred for the perpetuation
of Nazi crimes.
This fascinating story is
related to an article in the
Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung fur Deutschland by
Patrick Bahners. The trans-
lation of it is provided for us
in the German Tribune of
Hamburg. It reveals: -
When folksinger Wolf
Biermann was young, he
found a present before his
bedroom door every mor-
ning: a feather, a marble
or a piece of sugar. It was
a greeting from his absent
father.
His father was dead,
murdered by the Nazis in
Auschwitz. It was 1943
and Wolf was not yet
seven. His mother, who
placed the present in the
boy's toy box every morn-
ing, made him promise
something. "Wolf," she
said, "you must avenge
your father." Wolf Bier-
mann has avenged his
father with his songs.
Emma Scheyer
A mother would sing her
child to sleep in Yiddish
with the words "Sleep, my
child, daddy will come
with freedom."
The composer of the
lullaby wa . s Alel
Wolkowyski. The first
verse, paradoxically,
begins "Quiet, quiet, let's
be quiet." That was 1943
and Alek was eleven.
Wolf Biermann's father
was Jewish and a com-
munist, and he was killed
for this.
There are important addi-
tional comments in the
German Tribune translation
which appeared under the
headline "A Folksinger's
Revenge With Yiddish
Songs." It is in the following
observations:
Biermann honored the
Jewish dead, which was
by no means out of place.
He produced a sense of
uncertainty, which must
happen to a German who
hears songs and would
like to join in singing
them, songs which were
created by people who
were sent to their death
by his forebears.
He did this so convinc-
ingly that the question
about the authenticity or
being staged never arose.
One should only commit
oneself to the penultimate
road if no one among you
mistakes it for the last
one.
If we all, especially
Biermann, stroll along the
penultimate road, we can
thank those who took the
last one.
An important recollection
about an eminent
Detroiter's popularization
of Yiddish songs like the one
just referred to merits spe-
cial consideration. We owe
recognition to Emma
Schaver for having treated
us with the recording of her
"Ghetto Songs." She sang
them to survivors from
Nazism in the displaced per-
sons camps she had visited
after the war.
Emma Schaver con-
tributed toward giving
revived courage to the sur-
vivors. She also enriched all
of us when she and her hus-
band, the late Morris
Schaver, made her voice
available to us through the
recordings. Our encourage-
ment is due to again make
the songs of courage
available to us. ❑
Armageddon:
Without Panic
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
E
very calamity, human
distress, threat of war
and fear distress
always induce resort to the
term "Armaggedon."
Fundamentalists resort to
it and for Jews it may arouse
puzzzling curiosity as to
whether it could be treated
as anything approaching a
Jewish concept. Therefore,
with the special interest in
the present war crisis a
quote from a long list of
biblical and political quota-
tions in the Universal Jew-
ish Encyclopedia:
Armageddon, a final
battle between the forces
of good and evil. Derived
from the Hebrew for
Mount Meggido, conceiv-
ed as the place of a Mes-
sianic struggle (Revela-
tions 16:16)
The present world anx-
ieties add to the curiosity
about this terminology and
call for continuing Jewish
research. Therefore, the
need to utilize a more com-
plete study of the Ar-
mageddon religiosity as it is
defined in the following from
the Encyclopedia Judaica:
Armageddon, name of
the site, in Christian
eschatology, of the final
battle between good and
evil. The name Ar-
mageddon is not mention-
ed prior to the New
Testament but is believed
by some to be a corrupt