"I truly and literally had made my living with jazz"

May 31, 2019 2:12 AM

While [Eric] Vogel was imprisoned by the Nazis—first in the so-called model camp, Theresienstadt, and then later at the Auschwitz death camp—he and a dozen or so others played in a jazz band called the Ghetto Swingers. There were similar groups at many camps throughout Nazi-controlled Europe: musicians who were forced to perform, on command and under inconceivable duress, for the S.S.

—The Jewish Trumpeter Who Entertained Nazis to Survive the Holocaust by Amanda Petrusich.
posted by Kattullus (3 comments total)

This was a great read. Amazing how beauty in its different forms can survive such horror.
posted by TheFantasticNumberFour at 7:33 AM on May 31, 2019 [1 favorite]

Seeing this post jogged my memory about a movie Dad recommended to me, and is on my "one of these days" list: Playing for Time.
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 8:11 AM on May 31, 2019 [2 favorites]

I don't really know how I feel about the whole "being blindfolded and tested on jazz records just after you get out of a death camp" thing, but I certainly can respect the passion this guy had for the art form.
posted by fido~depravo at 11:22 PM on May 31, 2019 [1 favorite]