Lost anti-fascist songs in the Yiddish language from World War II will be performed in Shanghai this month, marking their first-ever presentation in Asia [1]. The performances will combine live music with lectures, offering audiences insight into the historical and cultural context of the songs [1].
Shanghai was chosen as the venue due to its significant history as a refuge for thousands of Jewish refugees during the war, making it a meaningful location for the event [1]. The concerts will be only the third Yiddish-language concerts held in mainland China over the past 60 years, highlighting their rarity and cultural significance in the region [1].
The project was initiated by University of Toronto academic Anna Shternshis and musician Psoy Korolenko [1]. Together, they produced two albums featuring Yiddish WWII music. The first, released in 2016, was "Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II," which received a Grammy nomination [1]. This year, they released a follow-up album titled "The Silenced Songs of WWII," which serves as a companion to the concert performances in Shanghai [1].
The original songs performed in the project were collected in the 1930s and 1940s by Soviet ethnologist Moisei Beregovsky, who gathered them from wartime ghettos [1]. Beregovsky’s archive offers a rare glimpse into the voices and resistance of Eastern European Jewish communities during the Nazi regime.
The Shanghai event will take place this month, providing audiences with a unique opportunity to hear these rediscovered anti-fascist songs and learn about their origins through accompanying lectures [1].
