Historian wins top honor from American Council of Learned Societies
David听Shneer鈥檚听winning听project听highlights听Holocaust survivors who听鈥榗ommemorated murdered听Jews听in the very country that orchestrated their murder鈥櫶
David听Shneer, a听精品SM在线影片 historian,听has听won听a听prestigious fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies听(ACLS), the group announced this month.听
Shneer听is among 81 winners chosen听through a peer-review process听from a field of 1,200 applicants.听听
The听ACLS Fellowship program honors scholarship in the humanities and humanistic social sciences听that have听the potential to make significant contributions to knowledge in their fields. The awards range from $40,000 to $75,000 and support six to 12 months of full-time research and writing.听
鈥淎s we continue to navigate the unpredictable world created by the COVID-19 pandemic, ACLS remains committed to supporting humanistic scholarship that contributes important perspectives to the conversations shaping our world and helps us better understand the human experiences of the past and those that will influence the years to come,鈥澨齝ouncil听President Joy Connolly听said in a听prepared statement.听
Shneer鈥檚听project,听called听Art is My Weapon: Anti-Fascist Music, Yiddish Performance, and Holocaust Memory (1933-1989), tells the story of one woman and her husband鈥檚 attempt to redeem post World War II Germany from its Nazi past with their Yiddish performance and socialist politics.听听
顿补惫颈诲听厂丑苍别别谤.听At the top of the page:听Jewlia Eisenberg and David Shneer onstage together.
尝颈苍听闯补濒诲补迟颈
In 1952, 尝颈苍听闯补濒诲补迟颈, a Dutch Jewish cabaret performer and Auschwitz survivor from Amsterdam, moved to East Berlin with Eberhard听Rebling, a pianist, who had left Germany under Hitler for Holland where he survived the war.听听
By singing anti-fascist Yiddish music,听Jaldati听and听Rebling听animated the memory of World War II and the Holocaust in their concerts,听Shneer听notes, adding:听鈥淭hey commemorated murdered Jews in the very country that orchestrated their murder; their concert halls served as alternatives to Jewish religious spaces; and their message in these performances envisioned a peaceful future through the universalist lens of communism.鈥澨
Shneer听recently answered five questions about his scholarly work.听The questions and his answers follow:听
Question:听The story of 尝颈苍听闯补濒诲补迟颈鈥檚听life is stunning. Once you discovered听it, you could have written a book about her, but you chose to combine your historical scholarship with multimedia performances. How does this approach help you better chronicle her life and its impact?听
Answer: 尝颈苍听闯补濒诲补迟颈, the Dutch Jewish dancer and singer, survived the Holocaust and moved with her husband, Eberhard听Rebling, to East Germany. There, she became the Yiddish diva of the communist world.听听
[video:https://vimeo.com/233875586]
"Millers Tears" by Yiddishkayt Los Angeles on Vimeo
After writing several scholarly articles, I thought about how I wanted to transform her story of hope into something more visceral, so I decided to do a performance. I worked with听Jewlia听Eisenberg, who is a singer, and transformed her life into a 70-minute story called听Art is My Weapon.听 Two parts learning, one part entertainment,听Art is My Weapon听shocked people with what it stood for鈥攔esistance in times of hopelessness, a visible future in times of current hardship.听听听
She died in 1988, one year before the Berlin Wall fell down, but I would have hoped that she would have kept on singing.听
Q:听You鈥檝e described听Jaldati听as 鈥渙ne of if not the key player in shaping Holocaust memory in East Germany.鈥 Can you tell us more about why this is so?听
A: As a Jewish Auschwitz and Bergen听Belsen听survivor,听Jaldati听was key in animating Holocaust memory in East Germany. As part of East German memorial celebrations, she sang in Yiddish at Holocaust memorial celebrations, concentration camp openings, and at Auschwitz memorial celebrations.听听听
She sang Yiddish songs that rang true of Holocaust memorialization such as 鈥淚t is Burning (S鈥檅rent),鈥 a 1938 Mordechai听Gebirtig听song that became a Holocaust ghetto song after the war. She also sang 鈥淣ever Say (Zog听nit听keynmol),鈥 a 1943 Hirsh听Glik听song that became the European Jewish national anthem after the war but before Israel鈥檚 founding in 1948.听听
Q:听Can you tell us about the significance of听Jaldati鈥檚听embrace of Yiddish song and Yiddish dance to her opposition of fascism?听
A: Yiddish was always the anti-authoritarian indigenous folk language of Eastern European Jews, but not just for Jews. African American actor and singer Paul听Robeson sang Yiddish songs as early as 1936 for the Spanish Civil War and continued singing in Yiddish throughout his life.听听听
Yiddish song and dance tell us a lot about her anti-fascism in the 1930s, but more often in the 1950s and 1960s in East Germany, as she sings these new songs of East German anti-fascism through the lens of Holocaust memory.听
Q:听In the abstract published with your ACLS fellowship announcement, you note that听Jaldati听and听Rebling听鈥渃ommemorated murdered Jews in the very country that orchestrated their murder; their concert halls served as alternatives to Jewish religious spaces; and their message in these performances envisioned a peaceful future through the universalist lens of communism.鈥 To what extent did their audiences react well, and why do you think听Jaldati听and听Rebling听had the success they had?听
A: The audiences, whether in East Germany or in Vancouver, Canada, loved Lin (they always called her Lin). In East German concert halls, these concerts served as secular Jewish spaces when none existed. And the audiences loved their vision of a peaceful world through socialism, albeit with the East German state regulating their every movement.听
Q:听Is there anything you鈥檇 like to say about the ACLS fellowship in particular?听
A: I鈥檓 honored to be an awardee of the ACLS fellowship and hope that I can turn this year into a beautiful book about 尝颈苍听闯补濒诲补迟颈听and Eberhard听Rebling听as the animators of Holocaust memory and visionaries of a peaceful future.听
Formed in 1919, ACLS is a nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations.听It describes itself as听the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and related social sciences,听and it听holds a core belief that knowledge is a public good.听