Zipper Conducts Dachau-Lied

Recorded Sound | Digitized | RG Number: RG-91.2041

Overview

Description: Dr. Zipper conducts the Dachau Song with words by Jura Soyfer at the September 1988 Styrian Autumn Festival in Graz.

Playwright Jura Soyfer and composer Herbert Zipper, active in Viennese antifascist cabaret, were arrested by the Gestapo after the German-Austrian Anschluss of 1938. They met again at Dachau, where both toiled as “horses,” hauling cartloads of heavy stone throughout the camp. Soyfer and Zipper wrote Dachau Song [Dachau-Lied] in September 1938 as an ironic response to the motto “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes Freedom) inscribed on the gate at the entrance to the camp. Initially performed in secret, Dachau Song was eventually learned by many camp inmates. Both Soyfer and Zipper believed that exercising the intellect helped preserve a prisoner’s self-respect in the face of constant humiliation. According to Zipper, he and his coauthor made Dachau Song deliberately difficult to learn, hoping the challenge would help their comrades rise above their surroundings. Weeks after composing the song, the two men were transferred to Buchenwald, where Soyfer died from typhoid fever at age 26. Zipper, ransomed by his family, fled to Paris and then to the Philippines, where he served as conductor of the Manila Symphony. After World War II, Zipper immigrated to the United States, working as a conductor, composer, and music educator until his death at age 92 in 1997. This recording features Zipper conducting a male chorus and ensemble of 15 guitars and percussion in a performance marking the fiftieth anniversary of Dachau Lied, given at the Styrian Autumn Festival in Graz, Austria.
Date: Recorded: 1988 September
Contributor: Conductor: Herbert Zipper
Lyricist: Jura Soyfer
Format: Audiocassette; magnetic

Physical Details

Language: German
Genre/Form: Music. Songs and music.

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
Copyright: Copyright Undetermined
Conditions on Use: Owner of copyright, if any, is undetermined. It is possible this is an orphan work. It is the responsibility of anyone interested in reproducing, broadcasting, or publishing content to determine copyright holder and secure permission, or perform a diligent Fair Use analysis.

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Art festivals. Concentration camps--Songs and music. Concentration camp inmates as musicians. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Songs and music. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in music. Performing arts festivals. World War, 1939-1945--Songs and music.
Geographic Name: Graz (Austria)
Personal Name: Zipper, Herbert. Soyfer, Jura, 1912-1939.
Corporate Name: Dachau (Concentration camp)
Meeting Name: Steirischer Herbst.

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection - not accessioned
Recorded Sound Provenance: Since 1992, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's music historian has collected historic sound recordings, published materials, interviews, and music related to the Holocaust and World War II.
Recorded Sound Notes: See RG-91.0179 for a slightly shorter version of this recording.
Recorded Sound Source: Bret Werb

Record last modified:: 2024-02-21 07:27:22
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn600072

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