On Holocaust Remembrance Day: Kaddish — Reflections on the Holocaust in Music and Words

Lucy Smith, left and Manfred (Manny) Sigmund Gabler, right
Lucy Smith (left), born June 15, 1933, Cracow, Poland. Smith was 6 years old in 1939. She and her mother were in the countryside enjoying the waning days of summer when the Nazis marched into Poland and her world unraveled. On the right, Manfred (Manny) Sigmund Gabler, born Feb. 18, 1938, Milan, Italy. As Hitler's plans to make Germany judenrein "cleansed of Jews" progressed, Gabler's parents knew that they would either have to leave the country or they would end up in a concentration camp.
David Sherman | JCRC

A dozen years before the beginning of World War II, the Nazis began what would become the unparalleled slaughter of Europe's "undesirables," most of whom were Jews. Millions would die, but there were survivors as well, each with a unique story.

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is Thursday.

Minnesota Public Radio classical music host Mindy Ratner has gathered a collection of conversations with some of those touched directly by the Holocaust. Those conversations form the basis of "Kaddish: Reflections on the Holocaust in Music and Words."

Ratner’s guests include Theodore Bikel — actor, singer, social activist and master storyteller — who came to the Twin Cities in June 2013, and Martin Goldsmith, Manny Gabler, Victor Vital, Lucy Smith, Nina Mosser and Robert Fisch who have stories and insights to share.

Further reading and listening

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