Tag: Holocaust

Violin Made in K. L. Dachau Discovered!

During World War II, Polish-Jewish luthier Franciszek “Franz” Kempa was imprisoned at Dachau, the first concentration camp established by the Nazis in 1933 in southern Germany. Based on the discovery of a note hidden in a recently examined instrument, it seems that Kempa masterfully crafted a violin out of the crude materials available to him…Continue Reading Violin Made in K. L. Dachau Discovered!

Vocal Music from Dachau

Thanks to Manuel Cini, concert pianist and professor at the University of Surrey—and thanks to his research in Holocaust music—we have learned of Leon Kaczmarek (1903-1973), a composer of vocal music and an inmate at Dachau concentration camp during the years 1940-1945. Not much is known about Kaczmarek’s early life and musical activities in Poland…Continue Reading Vocal Music from Dachau