Bejarano, Esther (1924—)

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Bejarano, Esther (1924—)

German-Jewish Holocaust survivor, who built a successful career as a singer of folk and political songs after World War II. Born Esther Loewy (or Löwy) in Saarlouis, Saar Territory (then French-controlled Germany), on December 15, 1924; daughter of Rudolf and Margarethe Loewy; sister ofRuth Loewy , who was killed by German security forces after being expelled from Switzerland; married Nissim Bejarano.

Born in Saarlouis, Saar Territory, on December 15, 1924, Esther Loewy grew up in materially modest but emotionally secure circumstances. Her father Rudolf Loewy taught at the school maintained by the local Jewish community. By early 1935, when the French-administered Saar Territory was returned to Germany as a result of a plebiscite administered by the League of Nations, it was clear that the future of the Loewy family was in question. By the end of 1935, the Nuremberg Laws had turned them into second-class citizens stripped of virtually all civil liberties. In November 1938, the local synagogue was destroyed, the sisters could no longer go to school, and the family was placed at the mercy of the local Nazi storm troopers.

The indignities continued, including the obligatory wearing of the Star of David on articles of clothing (September 1941), and culminated in the deportation of her parents to the Kaiserwald concentration camp near Riga, where they were killed. Her sister Ruth was able to find temporary safety in Switzerland, but Swiss immigration police eventually deported her back to Germany, where she was shot at the border. Esther was sent to Auschwitz on April 20, 1943, the 54th birthday of Adolf Hitler. In Auschwitz, with a background in music, Esther was assigned to play the accordion in the orchestra of the women's camp. Conducted by Viennese-born Alma Rosé , the orchestra quite literally played for its life. As long as the camp's commandants were pleased with their musical renditions, the orchestra members could avoid the gas chambers, which were visible from Esther's barracks. The camp was liberated by Soviet soldiers in January 1945. Surrounded by her liberators and fellow prisoners, Esther played her accordion while a picture of Adolf Hitler was consumed on a bonfire.

Unable to continue living in the country that had destroyed her family, Esther emigrated to Israel, where she married Nissim Bejarano and attempted to create a new life. This was only partially successful. After more than two decades in Israel, she and Nissim decided to confront their past and return to Germany. Esther Bejarano did not find it easy to become part of German life. Germany had few Jews, and many Germans of the older generation, even if they were not Nazi sympathizers, simply wanted to forget the past and enjoy their new, hard-won prosperity. During the first years after her return, she had nightmares of black boots kicking her; she would awaken with a scream and a piercing headache would remain after the recollection of terror.

Supported by her husband and encouraged by both her German and Jewish friends, Bejarano fought the demons of her past with music. Having saved her life during her years in Auschwitz, music was now the balm for her soul. She became an acclaimed performer at music festivals dedicated to German-Jewish reconciliation. At these festivals, she met and performed with musical stars like Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba and Maria Farandouri whose strongly felt political views paralleled her own. One of her close artistic collaborators, Günther Schwarberg, also became a close personal friend. Ironically, during the years Bejarano and her family had been persecuted by the Nazis, Schwarberg was a young man serving in Hitler's armed forces. Schwarberg and other of her German friends would always be deeply moved when she sang the song of the doomed Vilna Ghetto partisans of World War II, Zog nit keynmol az du geyst dem letstn veg ("Oh, never say that you have reached the very end").

Bejarano remained active in the Auschwitz Committee which she had helped found and considered it her duty to speak about her Holocaust experiences in public, particularly to a new generation of German schoolchildren. As painful as it often was, in the mid-1990s Esther Bejarano not only continued to perform but also to speak out against the growing threat of neo-Nazism and racism in a united Germany.