Vicky Ash-Shifriss on "Silent Tears" CD

The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

In observance of International Holocaust Rememberance Day (Jan. 27) we're listening to and discussing Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango, the acclaimed 2023 CD with new music and songs based on poetry and other writing by several women who are, or were, Holocaust survivors in Toronto. These songs recall their terrible and traumatic experiences during the Holocaust, including sexual abuse and torture. Some of the songs were collected and adapted by Dr. Paula David, a social worker, from a group of survivors in the Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto who wrote poetry together to deal with their trauma. Others were adapted from the diary of Molly Applebaum, a Holocaust survivor in Toronto. The music, which is mostly new for this CD, is performed by Toronto's Payadora Tango Ensemble along with several soloists. Our guest to discuss Silent Tears is Vicky Ash-Shifris. She lives in Jerusalem and works as a Yiddish teacher and translator. She translated four of the songs on the CD into Yiddish. For additional info on Silent Tears, visit Executive Producer Dan Rosenberg's website: https://danrosenberg.net/silent_tears_the_last_yiddish_tango_info_and_press or, to audition and purchase the CD, visit its Six Degrees Records album page: https://payadoratangoensemble.bandcamp.com/album/silent-tears-the-last-yiddish-tango

Music:

• Aviva Chernick with Payadora Tango Ensemble: Silent Tears (Words: Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group, Paula David, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Rebekah Wolkstein)
• Aviva Chernick with Payadora Tango Ensemble: The Numbers on My Arm (Words: Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group, Paula David, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Rebekah Wolkstein)
• Aviva Chernick and Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk with Payadora Tango Ensemble: Don't Let Us Starve (Words: Molly Applebaum, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Artur Gold)
• Lenka Lichtenberg: A Victim Of Mengele (Words: Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group, Paula David, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Rebekah Wolkstein)
• Henry Carrey: Tu Beshvat (Music and Lyrics by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: January 24, 2024