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My story tells of someone "Silenced but not silent"


A Survivor from Warsaw by Arnold Schoenberg Opus 46
for Narrator, Mens Chorus and Orchestra

“I cannot remember ev’rything! I must have been unconscious (most) of the time ...!
I remember only the grandiose moment when they all started to sing, as if prearranged,
the old prayer they had neglected for so many year ... the forgotten creed!

But I have no recollection how I got underground to live in the sewers of Warsaw
for so long a time ... The day began as usual. Reveille when it still was dark.
“Get out!” Whether you slept or whether worries kept you awake the whole night.
You had been separated from your children, from your wife, from your parents.
You don’t know what happened to them ... How could you sleep?

The trumpets again. “Get out! The sergeant will be furious!”
They came out, some very slowly, the old ones, the sick ones,
some with nervous agility. They fear the sergeant.
They hurry as much as they can. In vain!
Much too much noise, much too much commotion!
And not fast enough!

The Feldwebel shouts! “Achtung! Still jestanden! Na wind’smal, oder soll ich mit dem Jewehrkoldben nachhelfen? Na jut, wenn ihr’s durchaus haben wollt!”

The sergeant and his subordinates hit everyone, young or old, strong or sick, guilty or innocent . It was painful to hear them groaning and moaning.

I heard it though I had been hit very hard, so hard that I could not help falling down.
We all on the ground who could not stand up were then beaten over the head ...
I must have been unconscious. The next thing I heard was a soldier saying,
“They are all dead!” Whereupon the sergeant ordered to do away with us.

There I lay aside half conscious. It had become very still — fear and pain. —
Then I heard the sergeant shouting, “Abzahlen!”
They started slowly, and irregularly one, two, three, four; “Achtung!”
The sergeant shouted again, “Rascher! Nochmal von vorn anfangen!
In eine Minute will ich wissen wiebiele ich zur Gaskammer abliefere! Abzahlen!”

They began again, first slowly, one --- two — three — four,
became faster and faster; so fast ---- that it finally sounded like a stampede -
of wild horses, and all of a sudden, in the middle of it, they began singing the

Sh’ma Sh’ma Yi-ro-el A-do-noy — elohenoo A-do-noy e-hod V-o-hav-to —
es Ado-noy e-lo-he-ho b-hol l-vov-ho oov-hol nafah - ho oo-v-hol mo-de-ho V-ho-yoo — hadd voreem ho-el-leh a-sher o-no-hee m-taav-v-ho hayyom al l-vo-ve-ho
Vshin-nan-tom l-vo-ne-ho v dibbarto bom b shivt-ho b-ve-te-ho oov leh-t-ho badde -
- -reh oov shoh-b-ho oov-koome-ho.”

Please forgive any inadvertent mistakes in copying the Jewish prayer ... wish I could
understand the words.

Hi btb,

Thanks for bringing up Schoenberg Op. 46. I knew nothing about this piece. I went to youtube and watched a live performance of it. It is a really powerful piece. IMO, the poem should a part of our high school humanities cirriculum.

Haha! I bet the composer earned an F (efforts) for his Italian.

This also reminds me Beethoven and his sometimes poor use of Italian. For example, it is not entirely clear about Beethoven's intention toward the "allegro assai" for the 1st movement of Op. 53. As a result, some pianists (e.g., Schnabel and Gulda) play it faster than allegro, while some play it slower than allegro (e.g., Barenboim and C. Rosen).

"very much Allegro"! Perhaps Poor Ludwig was learning his Italian from a dictionary, starting from the front, and had not yet gotten to presto or vivace ?

I thought 'Supperisco' meant 'super risque.' Or, possibly, 'supper in San Francisco.' (There are places in North Beach where it could mean both at the same time.)