The four artists imprisoned in Auschwitz whose music will be played at the 80th anniversary events

This January 27 commemorates 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camps, which between 1940 and 1945 claimed the lives of one million people, most of them Jews. Although the horrors of Nazism were repeated in another 44,000 camps during the HolocaustAuschwitz has become the gloomy symbol of the darkest episode in recent history.

Thus, on its eightieth anniversary, the heads of state of many countries meet in the Polish city to remember the victims. The Kings of Spain, Don Felipe and Doña Letiziawill be accompanied by the Polish president, Andrzej Duda; the King of England, Charles III; the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky; and the Frenchman, Emmanuel Macron; inter alia. Representing Israel, refuge 80 years ago for the majority of survivors and now protagonist of one of the bloodiest war conflicts in recent years, will be the Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch. World leaders will not speak, but will listen to the testimonies of some elderly survivors. Those who witnessed first-hand the atrocities of the concentration and extermination camps.

In addition, the organization has decided that the event will be accompanied by the music of four artists who passed through Auschwitz, two of whom died in the gas chambers.

The musicians of Auschwitz

The four artists whose pieces will resonate this Monday in Poland are the German Simon James (1880-1944), the Czech Gideon Klein (1909-1945) and the Poles Józef Kropiński (1913-1970) and Szymon Laks (1901-1983).

Of Simon James (1880-1944) ‘Lamento’ will be played. German Jewish composer, pianist and musicologist. He studied at the Higher School of Music in Berlin and, later, in Munich, where he defended his doctoral thesis on “The Compositional Works of Abbot Vogler” (1904). From 1907 to 1919 he taught at the Scharwenka-Klindworth Conservatory in Berlin. In 1933 he emigrated with his family to Amsterdam. However, this did not prevent him from persecution. In 1941 he was arrested and sent to the Westerbork transit camp for Dutch Jews, and later transferred to the Theresienstadt ghetto. On October 12, 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered in the gas chamber after arrival selection.

Of Józef Kropiński ‘Anhelo’ (1913-1970) will sound. Kropiński was a Polish musician, composer, conductor, teacher and arranger. He graduated from a commercial high school in Bydgoszcz and the private Leon Jaworski music school, and then studied at the Bydgoszcz Conservatory of Music. He served in the Army from 1937 to 1938, finishing as a second lieutenant in the reserves. In September 1939 he was captured by the Germans, but escaped. In May 1940 he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned, and in November 1941 he was deported to Auschwitz. He played in the camp’s men’s orchestra, where he was named first violinist and participated in copying musical scores. He managed to illegally compose about ten pieces. In March 1943 he was transferred to Buchenwald, where he continued playing in the camp orchestra and composing illegally. In April 1945 he was liberated by American troops and returned to Bydgoszcz in August of the same year. He never returned to music and worked as an economist in Wrocław. He died in 1970.

Of Gideon Klein (1909-1945) the piece ‘Lullaby’ will be played. Czech Jewish composer and pianist. He studied at the Prague Conservatory of Music while finishing high school. However, he had to interrupt his studies at Charles University due to the closure of higher education institutions by the Germans in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In December 1941 he was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where he continued his composition activities illegally; Occasionally, he also performed solo piano recitals. In October 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz and then to the Fürstengrube subcamp, where he died in January 1945.

Of Szymon Laks (1901-1983) ‘String Quartet No. 3 on Polish Themes, Part 2’ will be played. Polish Jewish composer, musician and translator. He studied mathematics at the University of Vilnius and graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory of Music. In 1926 he moved to Paris, where he continued his musical training and composed. In 1941 he was arrested by the German occupation authorities and in 1942 deported to Auschwitz, where he was a member and later director of the camp’s men’s orchestra. In the autumn of 1944 he was transferred to Dachau, where he was released. After the war he composed and wrote articles for the music press and books, including “Music from another world.” He died in 1983 in Paris.