Have a Peaceful Yom Hashoah & a Chopin Performance

In less than a week, Yom Hashoah (April 11^th/12^th) will occur. In Hebrew, Yom Hashoah translates to “Holocaust Remembrance Day” and corresponds to the 27^th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar; this day commemorates the lives of the many Jewish people who died in the Holocaust during World War II.

Prior to Yom Hashoah, this Sunday will commence The Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (DRVH), an annual eight-day period designated by the U.S. Congress for civic commemorations and special educational programs helping citizens to remember and draw lessons from the holocaust.

In light of The Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust and Yom Hashoah, I would like to share with you a particular story that very much impacted me…

Natalia Karp, Polish concert pianist, was born in Kraków Poland in 1911 and began learning piano at the age of four. At the age of thirteen years old, she moved to Berlin, and by eighteen she made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.

In 1943, after the death of her husband, Julius, in a bomb raid, Natalia was sent to the Kraków-Plaszów concentration camp, where she came into contact with Nazi concentration camp commandant, Amon Göth. On his birthday, Göth ordered Natalia to play for him and was impressed enough with her performance that he declared: “Sie soll leben” (“She shall live”) and spared not only her life but also that of her sister. Natalia chose to play Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp Minor (in her later years, she was known for her interpretations of Chopin’s pieces). Eventually, she and her sister were sent to Auschwitz, but both survived the war.

Following the war, Natalia resumed her musical studies, remarried and gave birth to two daughters. She then went on to perform with the Krakow Philharmonic, performed for Oskar Schindler who saved many of the Jews in the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, made nine tours of Germany, and continued to perform into her nineties.

Throughout all of the tragedy that occurred during the Holocaust, and while still possessing dreadful undertones, I found this story to be one of the rare uplifting ones during this period. It is a testament that the power of music and emotion can inspire and has the ability to move even the most insidious of souls.

I would like to play for you the Nocturne in C-sharp Minor—one of my most treasured pieces, the same piece that Natalia Karp played which saved her life—in honor of those who survived the Holocaust as well as in commemoration of the millions of Jews whose lives were not spared.

God bless and may you have a peaceful and sacred Yom Hashoah.

Laila Tov,

Lesley Yvonne