Music has played an integral role in Holocaust commemoration since the immediate post-war period. In the late 1940s, Jewish Holocaust survivors established a lively and diverse musical life in Displaced Persons’ camps in Allied-occupied Europe, particularly in the American zone of occupied Germany. Among the new songs that they created were many recounting the horrors of the war years, chronicling mourning and loss, and lamenting the challenges of displacement. Music also formed an integral part of early Holocaust commemoration ceremonies among survivors.
"Dort in dem lager" from the David Boder archival collection, courtesy of the USHMM
Music has played an integral role in Holocaust commemoration since the immediate post-war period. In the late 1940s, Jewish Holocaust survivors established a lively and diverse musical life in Displaced Persons’ camps in Allied-occupied Europe, particularly in the American zone of occupied Germany. Among the new songs that they created were many recounting the horrors of the war years, chronicling mourning and loss, and lamenting the challenges of displacement. Music also formed an integral part of early Holocaust commemoration ceremonies among survivors.
The decades since 1945 have also seen a growing interest in, and engagement with, the music produced during the Nazi era itself. Yiddish song in particular has undergone an astonishing revival, despite the impact of the Holocaust and the virtual destruction of Yiddish culture in Europe.
Many composers and writers have tackled the subject of the Holocaust since the post-war years, attempting in their musical Holocaust memorials not only to commemorate the events but also, in some cases, to use their artistic representations as a means for social commentary.
