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Hashoah Lamentations

“Out of the depths I have cried to thee,
O LORD.

— from Psalm 130

A warm and sincere shalom to all of you…

“Hashoah Lamentations” is surely the most important musical project I’ve undertaken. Although I’m primarily a jazz artist, this recital is more strongly influenced by traditional Western piano styles than by jazz. It is an album of compositions dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust…to the survivors…and, in a general sense, to Jewish people everywhere. As this is reflective music, I sincerely trust it will be listened to in similar, meditative fashion — i.e. not as “entertainment.”

The album was originally conceived to contain just the material of Disc Two. Beginning with Never Again, this music encompasses everything from Jewish faith in the God of Israel — even in the midst of catastrophe — to the shocking grief of the Great Tragedy itself. I’ve designed these sixty-two minutes of music so the ear (and the heart) move gradually towards the focal point: the four-movement Lamentations.

While preparing this project’s release, I was compelled to revisit the studio and record an hour’s worth of additional pieces. This resulted in Disc One, featuring both an extended version of Never Again and the all-improvised Remembrances. Here, I imagined the somber reflections of an older man or woman: the Holocaust remembered “from a survivor’s viewpoint.” Alternating feelings of anger and anguish are depicted, as our subject quietly laments the loss of loved ones…recalls the fearful events of the camps…and weeps for the children who perished.

This recording presented a special challenge for me. The emotional intensity of the subject proved exhausting. Yet I’m hopeful these performances are satisfactory; if they inspire at all, if they cause the listener to think (indeed, to remember), I will count this project a success.

It is often noted that many non-Jews were persecuted — and murdered — by Hitler and his henchmen. Of course I acknowledge this, and with much sorrow. Indeed, other groups of persons (most notably the gypsies of Central Europe) were similarly singled out for destruction by the Nazis. As their lives were surely worth as much to God as were the lives of Jewish victims, the “Jewishness” of this project is not meant to minimize anyone else’s sufferings.

Nothing, however, compares with The Final Solution and its scope: the monstrous plan (one-third successful, lest anyone forget) to rid the world of the Jews. Simply put, it is an obscene injustice whenever this undeniable fact seems to be forgotten, or is cheapened by any false comparisons. This awareness, more than anything else, bolsters my conviction that new collections of music (along with other artistic endeavors) commemorating the suffering of the Jews under the Nazis are imperative.

It is my sincere hope that the Jewish community — and other groups with an interest in this subject — will utilize this music in various appropriate ways, particularly as parts of Yom Hashoah commemorations. And may I earnestly say that if just one Jewish person finds some healing, or feels any consolation from this music, I would count that as one of the great blessings of my life.

All net proceeds are to be directed to various Holocaust-related programs and institutions.

Paul Hofmann

Listen to Hofmann’s “Hashoah Lamentations” and hear the descent into darkness, the pervasiveness of an evil that came to dominate a continent and envelop a people; the evil that consumed that people — my people, the Jewish people; and the evil that consumed another people — those people, the German people and their collaborators.

Listen to the sounds and the silences. In music silence and sound go together. So too in the Holocaust and in its recollection. Listen to Paul Hofmann’s “Hashoah Lamentations” and hear the moments of exaltation, those very few moments when nobility appeared and flickered. Even if barely visible, it could not be fully extinguished; even if barely audible, it can be heard in this music.

I am of the first generation to be touched by survivors. Paul Hofmann is of the second. His children, my grandchildren, will be of the last to be touched directly. The work I now do in documenting the Holocaust on video tapes will ensure that the echo of those special people and that extraordinary experience will be there for those in future generations who want to listen. In Paul Hofmann’s work that echo resonates into respectful, responsive creativity that laments the great destruction.

Dr. Michael Berenbaum
President, Survivors of the Shoah
Visual History Foundation