CD "Damit die Welt es erfährt" [To Let the World Know]

The History of the Found Documents.


Produced live at the Lichtenburg Concentration Camp Memorial, © Jacob David Pampuch

Contents:


In 1975 a spectacular trove of documents dating from the Second World War was dug up. In 1942 and 1943, Polish women and girls imprisoned in the Ravensbrück concentration camp had managed to smuggle poems and information on the crimes committed against them out of the camp. They had allied themselves with Polish men – doctors and ensigns – held by the National Socialists in a prisoner of war camp in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The two groups became very close – their relationship fostered by mutual concern, concrete assistance and gifts.


Using these source materials, we have worked with the Alternative Youth Centre in Dessau (AJZ), to produce a CD: "Damit die Welt es erfährt ..." ‒ Ein Schmuggelfund aus dem KZ Ravensbrück. [To Let the World Know… Smuggled Out of Ravensbrück]. The reading to music consists of quotations and reminiscences, and tells the story of this discovery and its contents.

Production:

The double CD can be obtained for a token charge of €5.

Contact Kontakt

Audio sample: Listen to "Losgelöst, wie ein Komet" [Detached, like a Comet] Mp3

Teaching materials on the subject are also available: 

Projektmappe (Projectfolder)

Performers:

Steffen Butzkus (Butze)


Philip Gossa


Nadja Grintzewitsch


Madeleine Hoppe (Madi)


Marcus Jacobasch


Jens Jesiolkowski


Sven Langhammer


Johanna Matthei (Stachel)


Jana Müller 


Mario Neumann (Fila)


Daniela Nolte (Danni)


Susanne Ruger


Kristin Sawraws


Karl-Luis Vierheller (Luis)


Eddi, the dog

A bird, roosting in Lichtenburg Castle Church that kept up a commentary on our actions.

Track list CD 1


"To Let the World Know … – The History of the Found Documents"

1 Opening credits


2 Universal Human Rights Chorus 1


3 Рафенсбрю песня – Ravensbrücklied


Written in the Ravensbrück concentration camp (adapted by: Elke Erb)


4 "To let the world know …"


Letter IX of 9 October 1943


5 A glass jar is dug up, 1975


Report


6 Secret contacts with Polish women at Ravensbrück


Reminiscences from Dr Grabowski and Dr Markowski, 1975/76


7 How was news smuggled out of the camp?


From the 1975/76 reminiscences

8 Living conditions in the concentration camp

Letter I, undated, probably March/April 1943

9 The poet Halina Golczowa


10 The Sirens


Poem by Halina Golczowa


11 The poet Grażyna Chrostowska


12 Bread


Poem by Grażyna Chrostowska


13 A Scrap of Chocolate


Letter II of 30 Mai 1943


14 Roll Call


Poem by Grażyna Chrostowska


15 "An exchange of ideas is vital for us"


Letter II of 30 Mai 1943

16 Universal Human Rights Chorus 2


17 Rebellion against medical experiments


Letter V, undated, probably early/mid September 1943


18 Death


Poem by Grażyna Chrostowska


19 Art as a tool in the fight for human dignity


Letter VI, undated, probably of 16 September 1943


20 The poet Zofia Górska


21 "Detached, like a Comet …"


Poem by Zofia Gorska


22 Support in friendship


Letter VII, undated, probably from the second half of September 1943


23 Universal Human Rights Chorus 3


24 Forced labour for the war


Letter VII, undated, probably from the second half of September 1943


25 Nocna Zmiana – The Night Shift


Poem by Halina Golczowa


26 Longing


Letter VII, undated, probably from the second half of September 1943

27 Flowers


Poem by Grażyna Chrostowska


28 "To let the world know …"


Letter VII, undated, probably from the second half of September 1943


29 Rebellion against shootings


Letter VIII of 2 October 1943 and Universal Human Rights Chorus 4


30 First Moment – Departure


Poem by Zofia Gorska (adapted by Gabriele Kammerer)


31 "To let the world know …"


Letter X of 17 October 1943


32 Chwila buntu – Moment of Rebellion 


Poem by Zofia Gorska (adapted by Gabriele Kammerer)


33 "We are counting on you"


Letter XI of 24 October 1943


34 Unease


Poem by Grażyna Chrostowska


35 Note on Grażyna Chrostowska’s last poem


36 "To let the world know …"


Letter XII, undated, probably October/November 1943


37 The BBC reports on the experimental operations – it’s getting too hot for them

Dr Henryk Grabowski remembers in 1975


38 Christmas 1943


Zofia Pociłowska reminisces, 1975/76


39 How did the jar come to be buried?


Dr. Henryk Grabowski reminisces, 1975


40 "Be ready"


Letter XIV, undated

The second CD features the survivors’ voices. 


They reflect on human dignity, talk about feeling a desire for revenge and recite poems written in the Ravensbrück camp.

It also features the song "Karli Kayin" by kind permission of the fusion band Bejaranos & Microphone Mafia.


Track list CD 2

Survivors’ Voices

"From a name to a number". Peter Havaš talks about human dignity and his arrival at Ravensbrück


1 What does human dignity mean for you?


2 Longing for retribution


3 The name as the embodiment of identity and human dignity


4 Communication


Poetry recitals by Polish survivor Krystyna Usarek


7 Poems from the "Letzte Augenblick" cycle [Last Moments]

5 a) Chwila pierwsza – pozegnanie – First Moment – Departure


6 b) Chwila zamętu – Moment of Revolt


7 c) Chwila trwogi – Moment of Fear


8 d) Chwila buntu – Moment of Rebellion


9 e) Chwila zwątpienia – Moment of Despondency


10 h) Chwila modlitwy – Moment Here and Now


11 i) Chwila zwycięstwa – Moment of Triumph


Peter Havaš and Batsheva Dagan discuss the desire for revenge, the longing for retribution and the transformation of these feelings


12 Batsheva Dagan: Rediscovering the poem "The March Out"


13 Batsheva Dagan: "Wymarsz za brame" – “The March Out "


14 Batsheva Dagan: Commentary on the poem “The March Out "


15 Batsheva Dagan: Desire for revenge


16 Peter Havaš: Desire for revenge 


Two Songs


17 The Ravensbrück Song, sung by Nadja Kalnitzkaja


18 Song "Karli Kayin" by the Bejaranos & Microphone Mafia: a musical setting of a poem by the Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet