Auschwitz survivor who combated antisemitism with music dies at 96
In a 2010 AP interview, Esther Bejarano said performing with "the boys" at her age could be exhausting, but they've found ways to adjust, such as lowering the volume.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFEsther Bejarano(photo credit: hip hop survivor Auschwitz)
Esther Bejarano, who survived Auschwitz and subsequently used the power of music to fight antisemitism, died on Saturday at 96, the Associated Press reported. The AP said that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas paid tribute to Bejarano, who died in Hamburg, Germany, describing her as "an important voice in the fight against racism and antisemitism." They noted that in interviews, Bejarano, who was born in 1924 in Saarbruecken in western Germany, said it was music that helped keep her alive as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz death camp and later in post-war Germany. As the daughter of a Jewish cantor, Bejarano grew up in a musical home learning piano until the Nazis came to power and tore her family apart, The Jerusalem Post reported in 2010. In Auschwitz, she volunteered as part of the girls' orchestra, playing the accordion every time trains full of Jews from around Europe arrived at the camp, many of whom were taken directly to the gas chambers. Her parents and sister were killed in the camp. Bejarano continued playing music after her liberation, mainly tunes from the ghetto and Jewish resistance pieces. She briefly immigrated to Israel, where she married and had two children, according to the AP. In 1960, Bejarano reportedly returned to Germany, where she spent her remaining years promoting anti-hate messages to German children through her melodies, and teamed up with hip-hop group Microphone Mafia. In a 2010 AP interview, Bejarano said performing with "the boys" at her age could be exhausting, but they've found ways to adjust, such as lowering the volume. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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