Hope's Reprise

David Newman’s gifts as a musician and a teacher carry him through years of brutality during the war. Torn from his family in Poland and deported for forced labour at Skarżysko-Kamienna, David battles desperation and the mounting death toll by writing songs, poems and satires about life in the camp. Later, in the infamous Buchenwald camp, the resistance recruits him for a clandestine initiative to protect the Jewish children there. With his soulful songs and his lessons for the children, David is able to rouse a chorus of hope, both in himself and those around him.

Introduction by Kenneth Waltzer

At a Glance
Poland
Forced labour camps
Buchenwald concentration camp
Wartime letters
Postwar Czechoslovakia; Poland
Arrived in Canada in 1951

192 pages, including index

Recommended Ages
14+
Language
English

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Photo of David Newman

About the author

David Newman was born in Chmielnik, Poland, in 1919. He immigrated to Paris with his wife, Anna, and son, Jack, in 1946. In 1951, the Newman family immigrated to Toronto, where they raised their children, Jack and Gloria. David was a performer in Yiddish theatre productions, taught Yiddish to countless students and co-founded the Kol Yisroel congregation at the Borochov Centre. David Newman passed away in 2002.

Explore this story in Re:Collection

The more we endured, the stronger our will to live became. This was our resistance against the degradation.