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A priceless book of Yiddish songs from the Holocaust lay in a Sydney cupboard for decades – now it has been rescued

The Guardian UK Sunday 07 June 2026, 15:00 UTC By Kelly Burke 1 min read
Key Points

The family of Olga R almost threw out the collection of 20 songs written by concentration camp prisoners after her death, before discovering its incredible historyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastEven under conditions of extreme inhumanity, humanity has the capacity to find solace in creative expression. In the concentration camps and ghettoes of Europe under the Nazi regime, music became a sanctuary, a way to preserve Jewish identity, process trauma and maintain a...

The family of Olga R almost threw out the collection of 20 songs written by concentration camp prisoners after her death, before discovering its incredible history

Even under conditions of extreme inhumanity, humanity has the capacity to find solace in creative expression.

In the concentration camps and ghettoes of Europe under the Nazi regime, music became a sanctuary, a way to preserve Jewish identity, process trauma and maintain a historical record. A small chapter of this vast record, which resurfaced in Sydney, represents one of the earliest printed collections of Holocaust songs.

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Yiddish (ORG) Holocaust (EVENT) Sydney (LOCATION) Olga (PERSON) Europe (LOCATION) Nazi (ORG) Jewish (ORG)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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