A Symphony of Hope
Glimpses of everyday life in the camp are a crucial means of understanding what the community was like in Sachsenhausen. Soccer matches, events, and block festivities show that the prisoners attempted to maintain vestiges of the outside world, even though they were trapped in a Nazi prison. One lens through which we can analyze daily life in the camp demonstrates a lively spirit of resistance and determination: music. Shirli Gilbert, a Holocaust music historian, writes, “While music was not a principal element of camp existence, it holds invaluable worth, however, as a historical source because – unlike much of the evidence available to the contemporary historian – it constitutes a fragment of life as it was perceived and expressed at the time” (Gilbert 282). Sachsenhausen, like many other camps in the Nazi system, included prisoners from all walks of life and backgrounds. The music produced within the walls of the camp reflect these differences. Notably, the privileges of German political prisoners (red triangles) compared to that of Jewish and Polish prisoners are reflected in the quantity and tone of compositions.
The first group to analyze are the political prisoners, or those with the red triangle. German communists made up a majority of the population in the camp, and they were given significant privileges in the camp since they were not only Aryan, but also non-Jewish. Often, the communists were allowed to perform Schallerabende, or sing-alongs, in which they all got together and sang popular tunes. Many original compositions were created for these events, often set to upbeat, march-like hymns. Furthermore, the purpose of the schallerabende was two-fold. On one hand, it boosted spirits and camaraderie among the communists. As communist prisoner and former Lagerälteste Harry Naujoks remarks, “despondency and hopelessness were dangerous in the camp, and those in a position to organise these events hoped to ease the prisoners’ state of mind by giving them the opportunity to ‘switch off’ for a few hours” (Gilbert 285). In addition to the morale boost, the schallerabende played a critical role in resisting Nazi oppression. Communists would use the events as an opportunity to hold political discussions in secret, and the communist-run resistance organization in the camp fully supported the schallerabende for this reason (Gilbert 285). A perfect example of this subversion is in the main hymn of the camp: “Die Sachsenhausenlied.” The man who wrote the tune purposely set the lyrics of the hymn to a well-known communist anthem. Unbeknownst to the SS guards, the communists were singing proudly to a subversive anthem.
Unlike the upbeat, SS-approved Schallerabende, Polish music in the camp was somber, morose, and conducted in secret. Poles lacked the “Aryan” advantages of the German, Danish, and Norwegian, so they were subjected to harsher treatments by the SS and blockälteste. The best example of Polish music in Sachsenhausen comes from the compositions of Alexander Kulisiewicz, a famous Polish musician arrested for anti-Nazi poetry. He composed numerous works in the camp, many of which he later recorded following liberation. The two most common themes in his compositions were sarcastic, ironic pieces meant to show the idiocy of the Nazi regime and morose, somber pieces to commemorate his lost countrymen. An example of the former is his song “Koncentrak” (“Concentration Camp”), which satirizes the universal equality in the camp. His lyrics include, “No need for diplomas here, even the bishop sweeps the shithouse” (Gilbert). Along with the sardonic lyrics Kulisiewicz uses a polka-like structure to add humor and irony. The best example of his somber compositions is a haunting piece “Jüdischer Todessang” (Jewish Death Song). He wrote this piece to commemorate the Jewish victims being exterminated in Poland, and the last line reads, “Hear my last little song; I also have to go into the gas!” (Gilbert 300). The legacy of Kulisiewicz’ work remains to this day and provides a glimpse of one man’s artistic reaction to the horrors proceeding around him.
The final group to analyze is the Jews and other oppressed groups. Music, since explicitly prohibited for these groups, was used as a form of torture and humiliation by the SS. Eric Goodman, a Berliner brought to Sachsenhausen following Kristallnacht, describes one form of torture following an escape attempt: “Then the sirens howled eerily through the night, until the victim had been seized, but in the meantime all the prisoners had to remain standing on the big square, without food, without pause to rest, and had to sing. During this singing many perished, exhausted” (Gilbert 297-298). Furthermore, music was used as a means to humiliate the prisoners. On one occasion, two homosexual prisoners caught stealing were forced to inhale copious amounts of salty foods to increase thirstiness, were whipped twenty-five times, then had metal drums placed aorund their necks; they had to beat the drums until they died of exhaustion (Reed). At Christmastime, two prisoners were hanged next to the Christmas tree while Christmas carols played through the speakers (Reed). These forms of humiliation show the sinister tactics employed by the Nazis to dehumanize and torture their prisoners. However, despite the strict prohibition of Jewish music making, prisoners developed means to circumvent the restrictions. Various men gathered together on Jewish holidays and sang for liturgical rituals, and most notably, Roseberg d’Arguto created and led a Jewish choir in Block 38 (Gilbert 298). Arguto’s choir, according to Kulisiewicz, performed traditional Yiddish songs to maintain connection to their shared heritage. Unfortunately, the SS discovered the choir’s existence and stormed Block 38, then all of the members were sent to Auschwitz to die. (Gilbert 302).
Music, as Gilbert outlines, is an important lens with which we can analyze daily life of prisoners in Sachsenhausen. In fact, not only does it provide this historical information, but it plays an important moral role as well. Analyzing the works of art created in such inhumane conditions reminds us that these were human beings who had hope and resistance. Gilbert writes that “acknowledging the richness and diversity of victims’ lives under Nazism – replete with optimism and defiance as well as anger, antagonism, grief, despair and uncertainty – is perhaps a more truthful way of honouring their memory” (Gilbert 304). Essentially, restoring the victims their humanity undoes what the Nazi genocide sought to do.
I am a wild man, a half savage Pole
Shitty little clod; scheissen Polack, clod
Und warum denn, warum denn to Africa?
Here’s my colony!
They bought you like a slave
Bought you lock, stock, and barrel
Blood drips from your mouth and
Alles Scheiss ist egal
Ay, Sachsenhausen
Exotic colony
Germania richtig wild
Heil Sachsenhausen
Legs as thin as dry bamboo shoots
Almost dead like blackened cactuses
Heil, heil es lebe Kulturkampf
Mädchen will you be a nice girl
Polack that I am?
Gibt’s denn so was? Oh, you wild beast!
You have pretty eyes, you have pretty eyes
From this Mädchen mommy
And the stupid daddy
Spawning checkered babies
Spawning checkered babies
Schwartz und weiss und rot…
Ay, Sachsenhausen!
Paradise you beloved
All humanity adores you
Heil Sachsenhausen!
And if I should die tomorrow
I will kick the bucket at you
Heil, Heil! Es lebe Kulturkampf!
Heil, Heil! Es lebe Kulturkampf!
Heil, Heil, Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen
(Schoenfield)