Hatikva in Bergen Belsen

This little item below, that appears on a few Web logs such as here, was apparently written in April of 2007. But it deserves a much wider audience. Please do listen to the recording of the BBC from the good old days of 1945, and the recording of Hatiqva ( http://genealogy.org.il/BergenBelsenHatikva.mp3 ) made in the liberated Bergen - Belsen concentration camp.

 

It is a simple reply to Ahmmadinejad, to Norman Finkelstein and to their friends. It is a reply to anyone who denies the Holocaust, and to anyone who denies the meaning of the Holocaust for Zionism and the Jewish people. For those people, the Jewish state that did not yet exist, represented hope that the Jewish people would literally rise from the ashes.

 

For those who forgot what Zionism is really about, this is a reminder.  

 

Ami Isseroff

 

Scott Simon of NPR reports on a rare recording of "Hatikva " from almost 62 years ago. If this doesn't give you goosebumps I don't know what will.

It was recorded by a British reporter on April 20, 1945 in Bergen-Belsen when the British army liberated the few thousand survivors in the concentration camp, half of which were Jewish, most of them at the extremes of their strength. It was recently discovered and apparently was loaned to NPR by the Smithsonian Institute.

The British priest organized prayers for Kabbalat Shabbat for the Jews. It was the first time after six years of war and after more than 10 years of persecution. With a lot of effort the Jews organized themselves and, knowing they were recorded, sang " Hatikva".

As you can hear they sang the original version as it was written by Naftali Imber. Picturing them in the midst of the concentration camp singing after all they had been through renders this a very moving scenario.

 

Courtesy of Sandy Disler

 

Posted here as well.