Music and the Holocaust

While for the vast majority of Nazi inmates armed resistance was almost impossible, isolated groups were able to engage in organised resistance—and music often supported their cause. Amongst Jewish victims, the partisans that fought in the forests of Eastern Europe are one prominent example.

In the concentration and death camps, political prisoners from across Europe used music to express their opposition to the regime, and to help build morale and camaraderie amongst opposition political groups.

Some musicians had the opportunity or good luck to escape the clutches of the Third Reich in time. Life for these emigrants was often not easy, personally or professionally, and for many, the cultural changes and loss of identity were overwhelming.