Leon Kaczmarek. Image courtesy of the Kulisiewicz Collection at the United States Holocaust Museum
Leon Kaczmarek. Image courtesy of the Kulisiewicz Collection at the United States Holocaust Museum - Songs composed by a prisoner while he was detained in Dachau concentration camp during the Second World War have been performed to the public for the first time ever in a concert at the University of Southampton. The music was written by Holocaust survivor Leon Kaczmarek, a Polish citizen who was held captive in the camp, near Munich in Germany, from 1940 until it was liberated in 1945. He composed classical chamber music for 10 German poems. Six of the poems were written by 19th century German poets, whilst three were written by Kaczmarek's fellow prisoners, Carl Molter (1887-1942) and Georg Wilhelm (1895-1945). The 10th poem was written by Reich Propaganda Ministry official and SS member Wilfred Bade, and it is believed the music to accompany this was composed under duress. The compositions have been uncovered by music PhD candidate Manuel Cini, and were brought to a concert in Southampton by Neil Gregor, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Southampton.
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