Rafael Schächter
Rafael Schächter (born May 25, 1905 in Brăila , Romania ; died in 1945 during the evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp ) was a Czechoslovak pianist , composer and conductor . He was the organizer and one of the pioneers of cultural and artistic events in the Theresienstadt ghetto .
Life
Rafael Schächter was born in Romania, but lived in Brno from 1919 . At the local conservatory he studied composition and piano, a. a. at Vilém Kurz . After moving to Prague , he completed his piano studies at the Prague Conservatory and was trained as a conductor with Pavel Dědeček . This was followed by work at the Déčko Theater with Emil František Burian and, from 1937, the management of the Kammerspiele.
Gideon Klein , piano; G. Borger, soprano; H. Aranson-Lindt, Messosoprano; D. Grünfeld, tenor; Karel Berman , bass
As the Nazi regime persecuted Jew , he was in the on 30 November 1941 Theresienstadt ghetto deported . Among other things, to strengthen the morale of the inmates, Schächter began to organize musical events. A smuggled piano was installed in the barracks and a choir was founded. He was responsible for the performance of various works, some of which he accompanied on the piano himself. He was one of the most important people in the ghetto's cultural life, which was initially forbidden and then abused for propaganda purposes.
On October 16, 1944, Rafael Schächter was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp under number 943 with 1,000 other prisoners . He was later killed on one of the death marches while the camp was being evacuated . According to other accounts, Rafael Schächter is said to have been murdered on October 18, 1944 in one of the gas chambers in Auschwitz.
Rafael Schächter was honored by survivors of the concentration camps, saying that his work created an oasis of humanity and that he strengthened their will to survive. Josef Bor wrote the novel Terezínské rekviem in 1963 about Schächer's performance of Verdi's Requiem .
literature
- Josef Bor : Theresienstadt Requiem. Authorized translation from Czech by Elisabeth Borchardt. Berlin: Book publisher Der Morgen, 1964
Web links
- Rafael Schächter , documents in the collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague
- Raphael Schächter , in the reference work Ghetto Theresienstadt,
- Raphael Schächter , at World ORT , Music and the Holocaust
- Rafael Schächter in the Lexicon of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (LexM)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schächter, Rafael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czechoslovak pianist, composer and conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 25, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brăila , Romania |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1945 |
| Place of death | Auschwitz concentration camp |