Lost Holocaust songbook published in English for the first time
A rare Holocaust-era songbook compiled by Jewish refugees and survivors has been translated into English and published for the first time, following more than a decade of international research by University of Sydney researchers.
With an original limited print run of 500 copies, “Mima’amakim” (“Out of the Depths”) is a rare collection of songs from Nazi camps and ghettos. It is a powerful record of resilience and captures the migration stories that reshaped countries such as Australia.
The Janowska Orchestra, a forced ensemble of Jewish musicians formed by the SS in the Janowska concentration camp (Ukraine) between 1941 and 1943.
One of only five surviving copies globally, preserved for decades by a Holocaust survivor in Sydney, was rediscovered in 2013 and later shared with the authors, migration academic Associate Professor Anna Boucher and ethnomusicologist Dr Joseph Toltz.
“Some of these songs were almost lost to history, and now they can be heard again,” Dr Toltz said.
“These songs are full of life and defiance. To hear them now is to hear voices that refused to be silenced.”
The project traced the post-war journeys of survivors connected to the songbook, including one who migrated to Australia and helped build new lives after the war.
The Sydney family who preserved the book played a crucial role in ensuring the survival of this cultural record and providing access to what is believed to be one of the most complete surviving copies.
“These songs connect past and present in a powerful way,” Associate Professor Boucher said.
“They ask us to think about what people carry with them when they are forced to flee and what might be lost if those stories are not preserved.”
Out of the depths – book cover
Researchers conducted trauma-informed interviews with Holocaust survivors and descendants across multiple countries, including some of the original lyricists and composers.
They combined archival and documentary analysis, including passenger cards, Holocaust testimony and photos from gravestones, with detailed Yiddish-to-English translation and musical, poetic and historical interpretation.
“This project took us across countries and generations, speaking with survivors, families and communities, to piece together a detective story of sorts that spans continents and decades,” Associate Professor Boucher said.
“We were not just translating words. We were carefully bringing the meaning, memory and context of these survivors and their families into English for the first time.”
As the number of living Holocaust survivors declines, preserving cultural records such as music and oral histories is urgent. The resulting publication brings these songs to a broad international audience for the first time.
“These songs are not only historical documents but expressions of humanity, resistance and memory that have endured across generations,” Dr Toltz said.
