A Song for Esther

A century after the birth of Holocaust survivor Esther Bejarano, this conceptual concert reflects on the enduring impact of her legacy of resistance—both as an activist and as a musician—on the present. “A Song for Esther” is an act of remembrance marking Esther Bejarano’s absence—a fleeting memorial in the form of a concert.

At the invitation of artist Candice Breitz, an extraordinary lineup of musicians pays tribute to the tireless anti-fascist activist and musician: Alongside Breitz, the evening will feature performances by Lie Ning, Rasha Nahas, Polly Ott, Aeham Ahmad, Lili Sommerfeld, Dejan Jovanović + Oana Cătălina Chiţu, Die Anstalt, Lurje Judelman Shneyveys, and the Sialan String Quartet.

Special guests for the evening will be Joram Bejarano and Kutlu Yurtseven from the hip-hop band Microphone Mafia, who played over a thousand concerts with Esther—the last of which took place just a few weeks before her death at the age of 96.

Esther was born in 1924 to a Jewish family in the Saarland. At the age of 18, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Shortly after her arrival, she realized that the brutal, backbreaking labor she was forced to perform was intended to exterminate her. When she was nominated to join the extermination camp’s “Girls’ Orchestra,” she saw an opportunity to escape certain death.

As Esther later explained, she ultimately owed her survival to the fact that she was able to play a certain song for the orchestra’s conductor. During the unimaginably grim audition, she was required to demonstrate that she could play the saccharine wartime hit “Bel Ami” on the accordion, an instrument she had never played before. Out of sheer desperation, Esther used her piano skills to squeeze the catchy tune out of the accordion.

After the Holocaust, Esther wanted nothing to do with “Bel Ami” for seventy years. Toward the end of her life, however—to the surprise of many—she returned to the song and included it in her repertoire for hundreds of concerts. When asked why she kept returning to this deeply traumatic moment that had determined her fate, Esther described her performance of “Bel Ami” as an “act of revenge.” For her, the song had become a symbol that she had overcome the nightmarish experience of having been literally instrumentalized by Nazi Germany.

In the face of rising fascism worldwide, “A Song for Esther” offers a fleeting space for embodied resistance. On the evening of the concert, all participating musicians and bands will play a single song that has nothing to do with their usual repertoire. As an artist, you can’t always choose the instrument or the song to be played. And yet, the moment of performance holds both political and creative potential.

“A Song for Esther” was planned in consultation with the Bejarano family.

(English / with German surtitles)