“Music
meant such a lot for us because we felt like human beings
again. We didn’t feel like animals. You could cry, you could
open your heart…. For moments to forget, for half an hour
to forget. We could cry there, we could be happy there. We
could remember and we could hope ---- And all of us tried
to take part. It was not so easy.”
--
Zuzana Podmelova
“We were
not only hungry physically: we were hungry for culture. We
had very few meals, but people would give their last piece
of bread to get a ticket for a performance.”
--
Helga Weissova-Hoskova
“Culture
in Terezin taught me one thing - you can learn from history.
In this case you can learn that the human spirit, if you keep
it at peak activity, can help you to survive. It is incredible,
but listening to Bach's Chaccone can help you overcome hunger,
which, when it reaches life-threatening dimensions, displays
all the characteristics of a deadly mental illness. This was,
of course, valid not only in Terezin, which had an impressive
number of cultural institutions by 1943; it is a valid finding
with reference to all other camps, jails and all the situations
the characteristic of which is the lack of freedom.”
--
Dr. Herbert Mandel – violinist and survivor
“Faced
by the question on how people could perform and compose even
in the depths of hell, there were basically three attitudes
among the inmates. The naďve prisoners were oblivious to their
surroundings and did not absorb the full impact of their situation.
They saw no reason to change their lifestyles; if they practiced
six hours a day before the war, they would continue to practice
six hours a day in the camp.
The optimists
believed that the war would soon be over and that the civilized
world would not allow the atrocities to continue. They would
continue to practice in anticipation of their imminent liberation.
Then there were the pessimists who said: “We will soon be
murdered; why not make the best of our lives while we can?”
Thus the pessimists also continued to perform.”
--
Pavel Kling – violinist and survivor
