Esther Bejarano

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Esther Béjarano at a rally in Berlin-Köpenick against the right-wing extremist NPD , 2009
Esther Bejarano, 2018

Esther Bejarano (born as Esther Loewy on December 15, 1924 in Saarlouis , died on July 10, 2021 in Hamburg ) was a German Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp . She played with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and others in the Auschwitz Girls' Orchestra . Later she got involved in the association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime - Association of Antifascists (VVN-BDA). She was an active member of the International Auschwitz Committee until her deathand as a singer, from 2009 mainly with the rap group Microphone Mafia from Cologne . Esther Bejarano wrote, inter alia. several autobiographical novels. In 2013, the Hamburg Laika-Verlag published her biography Memoirs. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the rap band against the right , which contains autobiographical chapters, but also an interview with Antonella Romeo .

Life

Childhood and adolescence

Esther Loewy was born in Saarlouis as the daughter of the Berlin cantor and teacher Rudolf Loewy and the Thuringian teacher Margarete Loewy, née Heymann. She was the youngest of four siblings, with the youngest brother being poisoned with vinegar essence by a housekeeper before she was born. In 1925 the family moved to Saarbrücken in the Saar area , which was then separated from the German Reich , because their father had accepted a position as chief cantor there. He also taught the Jewish religion at some high schools. She developed a close bond with her nanny Katharina Schäfer, known as Kätchen.

Her father awakened her interest in music at an early age and she learned to play the piano . Bejarano later described her childhood as carefree:

“We used to have a really nice life in the Jewish communities. My father was a cantor. We ran a kosher household, even though my family was very liberal. I have nothing to do with religion. But culturally, growing up in a Jewish family brought me a lot. The love of music; I didn't become a singer by accident. "

In 1934 the first anti-Semitic incidents began in the Saar area. After its reintegration into the German Reich as a result of the Saar referendum in 1935, the first repression was quickly noticeable in the Loewy household. Katharina Schäfer was no longer allowed to live with the family, but continued to look after them until the so-called “ Blood Protection Act ”, which forbade “ Aryan ” maids under 45 years of age to work for Jewish families. The Jewish community in Saarbrücken began to shrink, more and more Jews fled the German Reich. Rudolf Loewy, who saw himself as a patriot and served as a soldier in World War I and had received the Iron Cross, 1st class , initially considered anti-Semitism and National Socialism only for a phase and therefore stayed with his family in Germany. However, in 1936 he decided to move to Ulm , where he found a new position as cantor.

In the vicinity of Ulm, Esther Loewy visited the Jewish country school home in Herrlingen . She had several appearances in the Jewish Cultural Association, she sang and tapped like Shirley Temple , but also sang German hits and Jewish songs. In 1937 the two oldest siblings emigrated: their brother to the USA, the oldest sister to Palestine . A year later, her second sister also went to a preparatory camp for emigration to Palestine. Esther Loewy was left alone with her parents, who moved to Neu-Ulm .

After the Reichspogromnacht on November 9, 1938, her father finally lost hope of an improvement in the political situation. He was arrested but escaped transfer to the Dachau concentration camp because he was considered a " half-Jew " and was released from prison three days later. Now he was preparing his family for a quick departure. He applied in Zurich, but was rejected because only “ full Jews ” were accepted. The family initially stayed in Ulm without any savings. Esther Loewy's school was closed and she had to go to the Jewish elementary school, where her father was a teacher, which put a strain on the family relationship. Eventually her father was transferred to Wroclaw . Esther Loewy came to Berlin and first attended the youth aliah school, then the Zionist preparatory camp for emigration to Palestine "Gut Winkel", which belonged to the Jewish Agency for Israel . When this was closed, she was transferred to another camp in Ahrensdorf .

The beginning of the war prevented an exit. In June 1941 all emigration camps were closed and Loewy came to the Neuendorf Landwerk , where she had to work as a forced laborer in a Fleurop flower shop in Fürstenwalde . She later considered this period beautiful, despite the numerous limitations. Her employers treated her well, and she had her first serious relationship.

Her parents were murdered by the National Socialists in Kovno in November 1941 , her sister in Auschwitz in December 1942 . Regarding the murder of her parents, she later said in an interview:

“At first I didn't know how my parents died; I only found out later. I found their names in a book listing the transports from Wroclaw to Kovno. The Nazis bureaucratically recorded their crimes. And when I realize that my parents had to strip naked in a forest, that they were lined up with other victims, then simply shot down and then they fell into a ditch - that is the worst and a lot for me more horrific than anything I experienced in Auschwitz. "

Auschwitz Girls Orchestra

Shortly afterwards, the conditions in the Neuendorf Landwerk tightened as well as the regulations for working in the flower shop, where she was only allowed to work in the warehouse. In April 1943 the labor camp was closed and she was taken to the Berlin assembly camp on Grosse Hamburger Strasse . From there she was deported to Auschwitz on April 20, 1943 . There she was given prisoner number 41948, which was tattooed on her. She had the tattoo removed in the 1980s. Here she had to haul stones in a work detachment. She performed songs by Schubert , Mozart or Bach for some of the block elders and thus received additional food rations. The block elders therefore suggested her for the Auschwitz girls' orchestra, which was being set up . She was hired to play the accordion because there was no piano. The arrangement of the keys on the right side of the accordion was like the piano, but the basses played with the buttons on the left were alien to her. The button marked C major was helpful , as she could derive the other basses from it. Within a few minutes she learned to play the accordion without ever having had such an instrument in hand, and so she played the hit Bel Ami right away when auditioning . Esther Loewy was part of the first line-up with, among others, Hilde Grünberg and Sylvia Wagenberg under the first conductor Zofia Czajkowska and under Alma Rosé . The orchestra had to include play at the daily march of the work columns through the camp gate. For Esther Loewy, the orchestra meant exemption from forced labor and a better supply of food and clothing. In the portrayal of the orchestra, she contradicts the description of Fania Fénelon in her autobiographical novel on many points . So she spoke of a great solidarity among the “girls” and also within the camp. She also stated that the orchestra also played on the ramps during the selections .

Esther Loewy then fell ill with typhoid fever and was transferred to the infirmary. At the endeavor of SS-Hauptscharführer Otto Moll , she was transferred to the Christian infirmary, where she received better care and therefore recovered. When she returned after four weeks, however, her place as an accordion player was occupied; so she switched to the recorder. Shortly afterwards she developed whooping cough and then avitaminosis . After half a year in the orchestra, Jews with “Aryan blood” were wanted in Auschwitz, Loewy reported and was recognized as “Quarter Aryan”. She and about 70 other women were transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in November 1943 .

Ravensbrück concentration camp and liberation

In Ravensbrück she was given prisoner number 23139. She was initially quarantined for four weeks and then moved to one of the regular blocks. There she was hired as a forced laborer in the Siemens camp in Ravensbrück , where she had to carry out assembly work. In her memoirs, she states that she also undertook sabotage there by deliberately assembling the switches incorrectly.

After two years of work, she was Aryanized in January 1945, that is, the Jewish star was removed from her and she was given a red triangle , which actually marked the political prisoners. So she could make the time of the final battle more bearable. She was allowed to receive food parcels and clothing and had more freedom in the camp.

As the Allies drew closer, Loewy was forced to take part in the infamous death marches of concentration camp prisoners . From Ravensbrück it went to the Malchow subcamp and then further away from the front. She was able to escape with friends between Karow and Plau am See . On May 3, 1945 she was liberated by US troops in Lübz . Then she came to a Displaced Persons Camp in Lüneburg and looked for opportunities to leave Germany. The way first led her to Bergen-Belsen , where she also learned that her parents had been murdered. She could not find living relatives in Germany. Together with friends she hitchhiked to Frankfurt am Main and researched the address of her brother, who had fought in the US Army, was wounded and now lived in the United States. Her sister Tosca had also survived the war and was based in Palestine. So she decided to leave the country.

She then lived for a few weeks with about 70 other concentration camp survivors, including Karla Wagenberg , another member of the Auschwitz girls' orchestra, on the Gehringshof near Fulda . The Gehringshof was also called Kibbutz Buchenwald by its residents and served as preparation for emigration.

Israel

Esther Loewy left for Palestine in mid-August 1945. She first took the train to Marseille . There she got forged papers that made her journey easier. She arrived in Haifa on September 15, 1945 . From there she was taken to the Atlit reception center . After several days of quarantine, she was picked up by her sister Tosca, who initially housed her in her small apartment in Sh'chunat Borochov . She then went to the Afikim kibbutz , where she lived for three months. There she wanted to start studying singing, but since she did not want to wait two years, she returned to Borochov and began to work in a cigarette factory. Several supporters of the radical Zionist group Lechi , with which they did not want to have anything to do with, also worked there. So she quit and worked as a nanny. Shortly afterwards she was able to begin her singing studies in Tel Aviv with Emma Gillis and later with Konrad Mann . After two years of training, she joined the Ron Workers' Choir . In 1947 she performed with the choir at the 1st International Youth Festival in Prague. There the choir took third place in the competition. This was followed by a four-week stay in Paris.

In 1948 she was drafted into the military and stationed in Jaffa . During the War of Independence , she performed in soldiers' camps. Due to the proximity to Tel Aviv, she did not have to interrupt her singing lessons. In 1949 she was given leave of absence from the army to appear again at the youth festival, this time in Budapest, with the workers' choir. After a relationship with a member of the choir, she met her future husband Nissim Bejarano.

After retiring from military service, she tried herself as a singer, but her earnings were barely enough. Therefore, she worked as a waitress on the side. She tried to join the Israeli Artists 'Association, but because of her work for the workers' choir, which also sang communist songs, she was denied access until further notice.

The relationship with Nissim Bejarano was happy and the two married on January 23, 1950. Esther Loewy took his name. The family moved first to Ramat ha-Chajal , then to Be'er Sheva . Their daughter Edna was born on May 16, 1951 and their son Joram on December 2, 1952. From then on, she was initially challenged primarily as a housewife and mother, as her husband traveled a lot as a truck driver.

As the children got older, she began to work as a music teacher, first in kindergarten, then with her own recorder school, and later in class at a middle school. Her husband lost his job as a truck driver because of his union and communist involvement. He was drafted back into the army in 1956 and served in the Sinai War . There he made the decision never to go to war again. At the same time, Esther Bejarano did not get the climate in Israel. She had a headache and poor appetite. So the two decided to emigrate with the children. First they spent vacation in Italy, then Bejarano returned to Germany with her family. She financed the trip through a reparation payment that she had received as a result of her imprisonment in a concentration camp.

Hamburg

After their vacation in Italy, the Bejarano family immigrated back to Germany via Switzerland. After a short stay in Saarbrücken and Saarlouis, they arrived in the Federal Republic of Germany on June 1, 1960 and settled in Hamburg . After a few years in which the family had to find each other professionally and during which they ran a laundry and a discotheque, Esther Bejarano opened a boutique in Hamburg and her husband worked as a precision mechanic . The daughter Edna Bejarano was the singer of the German rock group The Rattles from 1970 to 1973 .

Joram Bejarano (left) and Esther Bejarano

Her political consciousness also reawakened during the years in the boutique. She began to research her own history and document her life. She also joined the association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime - Association of Antifascists (VVN-BdA). In 1990 she became their national spokeswoman and since 2008 she has been honorary chairman of the VVN-BdA. In the 1980s she began to get involved more intensively. So she appeared in September 1982 as one of the two hundred artists for peace in Bochum's Ruhrstadion . Harry Belafonte , among others, took part in this concert. She can be seen next to him in a photo of the LP version. Other artists were Hannes Wader , Udo Lindenberg and Franz-Josef Degenhardt . On the double LP she can be heard with the Yiddish song Dos Kelbl and together with Donata Höffer and Eva Mattes with the pieces Sog nischt kejnmal and Lied von der Soija , the latter also with Angela Winkler .

In 1986 Esther Bejarano founded the Auschwitz Committee for the Federal Republic of Germany, which met every Saturday in her apartment. The committee, which still exists today, is committed to Buchenwald's oath . It organizes educational trips to concentration camps, eyewitness talks in schools and events against forgetting. The Auschwitz Committee also published her biography We live anyway: Esther Bejarano. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the artist for peace . In addition to Bejarano, Birgit Gärtner is also given as the author .

In 1987 she released the LP S dremlen Feigl ojf di Zwajgn / Birds dream on the branches (songs from the resistance) on the MMG label. The accompanying musicians are the Siebenschön music group, which she co-founded in the mid-1980s. With this group she performed in Vancouver in 1987 . A year later, together with her daughter Edna and son Joram, she founded the group Coincidence with songs from the ghetto and Jewish and anti-fascist songs. In 1995, the group appeared in front of the German Bundestag at the instigation of the Green politician Antje Vollmer on Auschwitz Memorial Day. In the same year the album Lider fars Lebn - Songs for Life was released by Oktave Musikverlag Hamburg.

In 1994 Esther Bejarano was awarded the Biermann Ratjen Medal in her hometown of Hamburg.

Esther Bejarano's husband died in 1999 after a long illness. He suffered from Parkinson's disease for years and Bejarano had cared for him for a long time.

Even in old age her enthusiasm had not diminished. On January 31, 2004, Bejarano took part in a demonstration against a Nazi march in Hamburg, where, according to Bejarano, the police aimed a water cannon directly at the car in which the then 79-year-old was sitting. In 2006 she was one of the supporters of the “Berlin Declaration” of the initiative Shalom5767 - Peace 2006 , which advocates a different Palestine policy.

In 2008 Bear Family took the song Treblinka into their anthology CD box Sol Sajn - Yiddish Music in Germany and its Influences (1953-2009) .

At a press conference of the Lampedusa refugees in Hamburg in 2013, she described the police actions against the refugees in Hamburg as “a shame for the city”. The identity checks of Africans are just as "inhuman and unacceptable" as the entire European asylum policy .

In 2015 she was part of the Spiegel series The Last Witnesses , which documented conversations with survivors of Auschwitz.

In 2017 she was nominated by the DKP as a candidate for the Bundestag, but withdrew her candidacy.

In 2018 she performed with Anne Will on the occasion of Auschwitz Memorial Day and reported on her experiences in Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. In the same year she reacted to the discussion about the song 0815 by Kollegah and Farid Bang , which flared up after the Echo Awards 2018 . She criticized the line of text My Body as defined by the Auschwitz inmate as “tasteless and mocking”. Afterwards Farid Bang apologized and offered to record a song together, which Bejarano turned down.

In June 2018 the musical theater piece The Children of the Dead City - Music Drama Against Forgetting was released as a music radio play and album. Based on her own biography as a member of the Auschwitz Orchestra, Esther Bejarano took on the speaking role of the pianist. The aim of the project are performances in schools in order to offer alternative didactic approaches through music in the sense of a culture of remembrance.

The Saarland Chamber of Labor praised the Esther Bejarano Prize as part of its “Remember Yourself!” Project. It is aimed at young people who are supposed to deal with topics of remembrance work in short film clips. It is endowed with a total of 3000 euros and is awarded by a jury headed by Tarek Ehlail .

On the XVIII. At the regular congress of the Fédération Internationale des Résistants (FIR) 2019 in Reggio Emilia , she was elected a member of the Honorary Presidium.

Album and concerts with Microphone Mafia

Esther Bejarano with son Joram and Kutlu Yurtseven 2015

After first contacts with the Cologne hip-hop band Microphone Mafia in June 2009, the joint album Per La Vita (For Life) was released in 2012 , in which their children Edna and Joram Bejarano also took part. The album, which was also released by the German independent label Mad Butcher Records , and the concerts in particular were a success. The project was continued in 2013 with La Vita Continua . In just three years, the band played more than 170 concerts. In 2017 a trip to Cuba took place, which was documented in an illustrated book.

Honors

Quotes

“I was very lucky that one evening Ms. Tschaikowska, a Polish music teacher, was looking for women who could play an instrument in the block where I stayed. The SS ordered her to set up a girls' orchestra. I answered, said that I could play the piano. We don't have a piano here, said Ms. Tschaikowska. If you can play the accordion, I'll test you. I have never had an accordion in hand before. I had to try everything to avoid having to drag stones around. I told her I could also play the accordion. She ordered me to play the German hit song You are lucky with women, Bel Ami . I knew this hit, asked them to be patient for a few minutes in order to get me back on track. It was like a miracle. I even played the hit with chord accompaniment and was accepted into the orchestra together with two friends. "

- Esther Bejarano

"But it got worse. The SS ordered us to stand at the gate and play when new transports arrived in trains in which countless Jewish people from all parts of Europe were sitting, who drove on the tracks that were laid up to the gas chambers and all of which were gassed. The people waved to us, they certainly thought that where the music was playing, it couldn't be that bad. That was the Nazi tactic. They wanted all of the people to die without a fight. But we knew where they were going. We played with tears in our eyes. We couldn't have defended ourselves against it, because the SS thugs stood behind us with their rifles. "

- Esther Bejarano

“You are not to blame for this time. But you are guilty of not wanting to know anything about this time. You have to know everything that happened back then. And why it happened. "

- Esther Bejarano

To Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on the revocation of the non-profit status of the VVN-BdA:

"The house is on fire and you lock out the fire brigade"

- Esther Bejarano

Works (selection)

literature

  • Esther Bejarano, Birgit Gärtner: We still live: Esther Bejarano. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the artist for peace. 3., corr. and exp. Edition. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag , Bonn 2007, ISBN 978-3-89144-353-8 .
  • Esther Béjarano: La ragazza con la fisarmonica. Dall'orchestra di Auschwitz alla musica Rap. A cura di Antonella Romeo, Prefazione di Bruno Maida, Allegato DVD “Esther che suonava la fisarmonica nell'orchestra di Auschwitz”, Regia di Elena Valsania, Edizioni SEB27 2013, ISBN 978-88-86618-94-6 .
  • Leander Sukov : So that what happened then never happens again. In: Pearl pig. Selected poems. Culture machines , Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-940274-06-9 .
  • Thomas Gonschior, Christa Spannbauer : Courage to live. The message of the survivors from Auschwitz. Europa Verlag, Berlin and others 2014, ISBN 978-3-944305-57-8 . (Contains an essay by Bejarano.)
  • R-mediabase: Esther Bejarano with microphone mafia live in Cuba. Illustrated book, Verlag Wiljo Heinen, Berlin / Böklund 2017, ISBN 978-3-95514-910-9 .

Discography

Bejarano and Microphone Mafia 2015
  • 1987: S dremlen Feigl ojf di Zwajgn / Birds dream on the branches (songs from the resistance) (MMG)
  • 1995: Coincidence: Lider fars Lebn - Songs for Life (Oktave Musikverlag Hamburg)
  • 2012: Bejarano & Microphone Mafia : Per la Vita (Mad Butcher Records, Al Dente Recordz)
  • 2013: Bejarano & Microphone Mafia: La Vita Continua (Al Dente Recordz)
  • 2018: Role of the pianist in The Children of the Dead City - musical drama against oblivion (Lava Jam, LJ1801)

Movie

Web links

Commons : Esther Bejarano  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rest in peace, Esther! , hinzundkunzt.de, accessed on July 10, 2021
  2. ↑ Open letter to those in power and all people who want to learn from history , created on January 26, 2020.
  3. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the rap band against the right . Ed .: Antonella Romeo. Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-944233-04-8 , pp. 42 .
  4. ↑ a b “Sometimes tears come to me” - Ester Bejarano on Jewish culture and the effect of music . Interview by Bejarano with Susann Witt-Stahl. In: Zeitschrift Melodie und Rhythmus , September / October 2016, p. 35, Verlag May 8, Berlin.
  5. ^ A b Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 50 .
  6. ^ A b Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 58-59 .
  7. ↑ Communication from Esther Bejarano (July 22, 2014)
  8. ↑ Esther Bejarano with Anne Will
  9. ↑ Esther Bejarano, Birgit Gärtner: We live anyway: Esther Bejarano. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the artist for peace. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89144-353-6 , p. 79.
  10. ↑ Oliver Das Gupta: "The state is blind in the right eye or it pinches it shut". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . May 6, 2015, accessed May 25, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Auschwitz survivor Esther Bejarano: Music saved her life
  12. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 70-73 .
  13. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 76-78 .
  14. ↑ Esther Bejarano, Birgit Gärtner: We live anyway: Esther Bejarano. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the artist for peace. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89144-353-6 , p. 86.
  15. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 80-81 .
  16. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 82-83 .
  17. ^ A b Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 92-94 .
  18. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 98-100 .
  19. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 100-102 .
  20. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 106-109 .
  21. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 111-119 .
  22. ^ A b Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 121-129 .
  23. ↑ a b We will never forget her: Honorary President Esther Bejarano has died , obituary of the VVN-BdA
  24. ↑ Various - Artists for Peace . 2 LP. Krefeld initiative 1980.
  25. ↑ The Committee. Auschwitz Committee Foundation, accessed on May 25, 2018 .
  26. ↑ a b Esther Bejarano at Discogs . Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  27. ↑ Esther Bejarano, Birgit Gärtner: We live anyway: Esther Bejarano. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the artist for peace. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89144-353-6 , p. 197.
  28. ↑ Esther Bejarano, Birgit Gärtner: We live anyway: Esther Bejarano. From the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz to the artist for peace. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89144-353-6 , p. 198.
  29. ↑ Esther Bejarano: Memories . Laika-Verlag, Hamburg 2013, p. 157 .
  30. ↑ It was like a nightmare. In: New Germany . February 3, 2004. (neue-deutschland.de)
  31. ↑ Wording of the declaration
  32. ↑ Simone Viere: Esther Bejarano: Police actions against Lampedusa refugees "a shame" In: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany , October 18, 2013.
  33. ↑ "A beast, a disgusting guy" . In: one day , January 27, 2015; accessed May 25, 2018.
  34. ^ Statement by Esther Bejarano. DKP, accessed on January 28, 2018 .
  35. ↑ Malte Lehming: "You can't do that with duty" . In: Der Tagesspiegel Online . January 29, 2018, ISSN  1865-2263 ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed May 25, 2018]).
  36. ↑ HCS-Content GmbH: Auschwitz survivor Bejarano sticks to criticism of Farid Bang . In: Frankenpost . ( frankenpost.de [accessed on May 25, 2018]).
  37. ↑ "The Children of the Dead City": Is it allowed to write a musical about the Holocaust? MDR culture. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  38. ↑ Esther Bejarano on: The children of the dead city . Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  39. ^ Esther Bejarano Prize. Retrieved February 1, 2019 .
  40. ↑ Bulletin of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR) - Association of Antifascists No. 55, March 2020
  41. ↑ Esther Bejarano and Microphone Mafia: Alliance against racist poison. In: Allgemeine Zeitung . July 9, 2014, archived from the original on June 12, 2018 .;
  42. ^ Report from the Federal Congress of the VVN-BdA 2008
  43. ↑ Persons who have been awarded the Carl von Ossietzky Medal by the ILMR are honorary members of the league according to the ILMR statutes § 2c. You get all the rights of a full member. ilmr.de (PDF)
  44. ↑ Federal Cross of Merit for Esther Bejarano on: vvn-bda.de , October 5, 2008; accessed on May 24, 2018.
  45. ↑ In the explanation it says: “Many of her family members were murdered by the National Socialists. She survived because she was accepted into the girls' orchestra in Auschwitz and later did forced labor in the Ravensbrück women's concentration camp. It is important to her to educate young people in particular about Nazi terror and right-wing extremism. "
  46. ↑ Against fascism - for solidarity and justice ( Memento from January 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  47. ^ Accordion and Anti-Fascism. In: Jüdische Allgemeine . April 26, 2012.
  48. ↑ Laudatory speech by Gesine Lötzsch
  49. ↑ Roland Kaufhold , Stefan Hößl: Esther Bejarano and the Cologne hip-hop combo Microphone Mafia. In: haGalil . December 13, 2014.
  50. ↑ Sascha Schmidt: "I belong to you": Esther Bejarano appointed honorary citizen of Saarlouis. In: saarlouis.de , December 2, 2014.
  51. ↑ "We owe you an infinite amount" Laudation from Rolf Becker
  52. ↑ Senate honors Esther Bejarano and Peggy Parnass , sueddeutsche.de, November 13, 2019.
  53. ↑ Hans Joachim Janik: Wiesloch: Esther Bejarano Community School (formerly Gerbersruhschule) in operation. In: kraichgau-lokal.de. October 1, 2020, accessed October 4, 2020 .
  54. ↑ Esther Bejarano receives the Hermann Maas Prize , Jüdische Allgemeine, October 15, 2020
  55. ^ Website for the film
  56. ↑ Trailer for the film
  57. ↑ netzwerk-cuba.de
personal data
SURNAME Bejarano, Esther
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Loewy, Esther (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German survivor of the Auschwitz extermination camp, contemporary witness and author
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarlouis
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Hamburg