Esther Béjarano

Esther Béjarano at a demonstration against the neo-nazi NPD in Berlin

Esther Béjarano (born 15 December 1924 in Saarlouis) and Anita Lasker Wallfisch are among the last survivors of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz.

Biography

Béjarano was born as Esther Loewy as a daughter of the Head Cantor of a Jewish municipality. The father encouraged his daughter to get interested in music and Esther learned to play the piano. At age 15 she had to separate from her parents, in order to prepare for emigration to Palestine. This emigration was thwarted by the Nazis. She carried out two years of hard labour in Neuendorf Labour Camp close to Fürstenwalde/Spree. On 20 April 1943 all members of the labour camp were deported to Auschwitz. There she had to drag stones until she joined the Girl orchestra of Auschwitz. In the orchestra, she played the accordion. The orchestra had the task of playing for the daily march of the gangs by the camp gate. She survived Auschwitz. She emigrated to Palestine and returned later to Germany. At the beginning of the 1980s, with her daughter Edna and son Joram, she created the musical group Coincidence. They sing songs from the ghetto and Jewish as well as anti-fascist songs. Béjarano lives today in Hamburg. She is a co-founder and chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee and honorary chairman of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime. She was awarded the Carl von Ossietzky medal and holds the Cross of Merit, First class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. And she was honored with ethecon's 2013 "Blue Planet Award" for her "relentless activity for peace and against anti-Semitism, racism and fascism".

Esther Béjarano "miracle" account

"I had great luck that in the block, in which I stayed overnight. One evening, Mrs. Tschaikowska, a Polish music teacher, was looking for women who could play an instrument. The SS had instructed her to set up a girl orchestra. I introduced myself, said that I could play piano. We do not have a piano here, said Mrs. Tschaikowska. If you can play accordion, I will audition you. I had never played an accordion before. I had to try, so I would not have to haul boulders any more. I said to her that I could play also accordion. She instructed me to play Du hast Glück bei den Frauen, Bel Ami, a popular German song. I knew this song, asked her for a few minutes of patience, so I could warm up. It was like a miracle. I played the song, even with accompaniment, and was accepted to the orchestra with two friends.

"The function of the girl orchestra in Auschwitz-Birkenau was to stand at the gate and play when the gangs marched out in the morning and in the evening, and when they returned to the camp. We all had a bad conscience, because we "helped", so to speak, that the prisoners had to march in step, had to march to our music.

But there was worse. The SS instructed us to stand at the gate and play when new transports arrived, in which innumerable Jewish people from all parts of Europe sat, trains that were led to the tracks that went right to the gas chambers and where everyone was gassed. The people waved at us, they thought certainly, where music is played, it certainly can't be that bad. Those were the tactics of the Nazis. They wanted all the people to go to their deaths without a fight. But we knew where they were being led. We played with tears in our eyes. There was nothing we could do to resist because the SS henchmen were standing behind us with their rifles."

Sources

• Esther Béjarano, Birgit Gärtner, Wir leben trotzdem: Esther Béjarano – vom Mädchenorchester in Auschwitz zur Künstlerin für den Frieden ("We live, nevertheless: Esther Béjarano – from Girl Orchestra in Auschwitz to artist for peace"), Pahl-Rugenstein, Bonn (2005). Third edition, corrected and expanded (2007) ISBN 3-89144-353-6 Template:De icon
• Damit nie wieder geschehe, was damals geschah" in "Perlensau - Ausgewählte Gedichte ("So that that which once happened never happens again" from "Pig of Pearls – Selected Poems") Leander Sukov. ISBN 978-3-940274-06-9 Template:De icon
• Esther Béjarano, "La ragazza con la fisarmonica. Dall’orchestra di Auschwitz alla musica Rap", A cura di Antonella Romeo, Prefazione di Bruno Maida, Allegato DVD "Esther che suonava la fisarmonica nell’orchestra di Auschwitz", Regia di Elena Valsania, Edizioni SEB27, 2013 (ISBN 978-88-86618-94-6) http://www.seb27.it/content/la-ragazza-con-la-fisarmonica

Film

• "Esther che suonava la fisarmonica nell’orchestra di Auschwitz", Regia di Elena Valsania, Felìz - Edizioni SEB27, DVD allegato al volume: Esther Béjarano, "La ragazza con la fisarmonica. Dall’orchestra di Auschwitz alla musica Rap", A cura di Antonella Romeo, Prefazione di Bruno Maida, Edizioni SEB27, 2013 (ISBN 978-88-86618-94-6) http://www.seb27.it/content/la-ragazza-con-la-fisarmonica

External links

• Interview with Esther Béjarano 51:34 minutes in the discussion with Silke Behl. 22 January 2002 Template:De icon
• Radio play, "The Wooden Shoes" Transmission excerpt from 24 January 2002 Template:De icon
• Speech given on 8 January 2005 in Berlin Template:De icon
• We live nevertheless Template:De icon