in 1944, at the nazi concentration camp of terezin, the imprisoned czech conductor rafael schachter
formed a choir of 150 of his fellow jewish prisoners to brazenly perform verdi's requiem before the very
nazis who had condemned them to death. transcending the horrors around them, night after night they
rehearsed in a dark, mouldy and suffocating cellar, with a broken piano. in a calm message of defiance,
each time a choir member was murdered by the ss, a new singer would replace them. the final
performance took place in front of the camp's nazi brass, visiting high-ranking ss officers from berlin and
gullible red cross inspectors brought in to verify that the prisoners were being well treated. this film
features surviving nazi propaganda footage of terezin as it was perversely stage-managed during a red
cross inspection visit to appear like an attractive jewish commune. shortly after the performance, both
schachter and most of his choir would be sent to auschwitz. but through the transformation of verdi's
music into a proclamation of their unbroken spirit and warning of god's coming wrath against their captors,
the prisoners had been able to sing to their captors what they dared not say. for over ten years,
distinguished american conductor murry sidlin, who found out about the choir in the 1990s, dreamed of
bringing the requiem back to terezin. now, through soaring concert footage, powerful survivor
recollections, cinematic dramatizations and evocative animation, their heartbreaking story is brought to
life.
http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=remembering_the_holocaust:_defiant_requiem
formed a choir of 150 of his fellow jewish prisoners to brazenly perform verdi's requiem before the very
nazis who had condemned them to death. transcending the horrors around them, night after night they
rehearsed in a dark, mouldy and suffocating cellar, with a broken piano. in a calm message of defiance,
each time a choir member was murdered by the ss, a new singer would replace them. the final
performance took place in front of the camp's nazi brass, visiting high-ranking ss officers from berlin and
gullible red cross inspectors brought in to verify that the prisoners were being well treated. this film
features surviving nazi propaganda footage of terezin as it was perversely stage-managed during a red
cross inspection visit to appear like an attractive jewish commune. shortly after the performance, both
schachter and most of his choir would be sent to auschwitz. but through the transformation of verdi's
music into a proclamation of their unbroken spirit and warning of god's coming wrath against their captors,
the prisoners had been able to sing to their captors what they dared not say. for over ten years,
distinguished american conductor murry sidlin, who found out about the choir in the 1990s, dreamed of
bringing the requiem back to terezin. now, through soaring concert footage, powerful survivor
recollections, cinematic dramatizations and evocative animation, their heartbreaking story is brought to
life.
http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=remembering_the_holocaust:_defiant_requiem
