Category: holocaust

The Last Witnesses


① memo 20170520 ~ The Last Witnesses ~ Closing ceremony at the presentation of the dutch book “De Laatste Getuigen” telling the stories of over 80 survivors ( ISBN 9789054877370 ) with a panel discussion with the survivors Staf Schaerlackens , Max De Vries , Elisabeth ‘Lieske’ Vossen , and Evrard Voorpijls , and presentations by Marc Van Roosbroeck (chairman of vzw “De werkgroep 10 december 2008”) , Gert De Nutte (publisher ASP) Rudi Beken , Herman Vandormael, and Patrick Dewael (mayor of Tongeren) on 20 May 2011 , Tongeren , Belgium

Zog nit keynmol – Cartouche


Video published on Apr 19, 2017 – Partison Song – Zog nit keynmol (Ne dis jamais) est le nom de la chanson écrite en 1943 par Hirsh Glick, jeune juif détenu au ghetto de Vilnius apprenant le soulèvement du ghetto de Varsovie contre les nazis. La mélodie est du russe Dmitry Pokrass écrite en 1935

Background *
‘Zog nit keynmol az du geyst dem letstn veg’ (Never say that you are walking the final road), also known as ‘The Partisans’ Song’, is perhaps the best-known of the Yiddish songs created during the Holocaust. It was written by the young Vilna poet Hirsh Glik, and based on a pre-existing melody by the Soviet-Jewish composer Dimitri Pokrass. Inspired by the news of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, the song was adopted as the official anthem of the Vilna partisans shortly after it was composed in 1943, and spread with remarkable rapidity to other ghettos and camps. The song is powerful and defiantly optimistic, acknowledging Jewish suffering in the past and present, and urging the Jewish people to continue fighting for their survival. It is one of the most frequently performed songs at Holocaust commemoration ceremonies.

Continue reading “Zog nit keynmol – Cartouche” →

Heroic Hands


① memo 20170427 ~ Heroic Hands ~ Friend , as you pass by , Honour these hands whose heroic gesture saved those whom the forces of evil had destined for hell .
This corten steel work of Etienne Desmet is a tribute to the heroic attack in Boortmeerbeek by the three young men Youra Livschitz, Robert Maistriau and Jean Franklemon , on the ‘Transport XX’ deportation train – a cattle car train crammed with 1631 Jewish passengers, heading for Auschwitz. They were able to open one of the cattle cars and liberated 17 men and women. Another more than 200 prisoners escape from the train before the German border. The story is told in the documentary film “Transport XX to Auschwitz” – https://michelvanderburg.com/2013/04/19/transport-xx-to-auschwitz/
Filmed last Sunday at the Transport XX commemoration April 23 , 2017 in Boortmeerbeek , Belgium

Blues Duet


① memo 20170426 ~ Blues Duet ~ Blues with a jamming piano duet by ‘Boogie Boy’ Paul Ambach and Simon Gronowski together with Dennis Jacquemyn (guitar) and drummer Jamal Thomas at the Transport XX commemoration last Sunday April 23 , 2017 , were music was the theme this year – Boortmeerbeek , Belgium

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(video edit update 20170601 : sound volume increase and slight image exposure edit)