Holocaust Songs Resurface in Asia After Stalin's Suppression

Professor Anna Shternshis of the University of Toronto and musician Psoy Korolenko recently toured Asia, performing in Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing, with “Yiddish Glory: The Silenced Songs of World War II,” an album of music recovered from the Holocaust. The songs were originally collected in 1944 by Soviet Jewish ethnomusicologist Moisei Beregovsky from Jewish survivors in Ukraine.

Beregovsky’s work was nearly lost when he was arrested in 1950 and accused of “Jewish nationalism” by Stalin’s regime. His collection of 263 songs was confiscated, but rediscovered in 1990 by librarians in Kyiv.

Shternshis’s project aims to resurrect these songs, which often contain nuanced truths and even intentional fiction reflecting the trauma and censorship of the time. The concerts prompted audiences unfamiliar with Soviet Jewish history to draw parallels with their own experiences of war, occupation, and political division. Shternshis hopes to bring the music to Ukraine once the current conflict ends, completing a full circle for the rescued songs.