The Documentary Podcast

Songs from the Depths of Hell


Listen Later

Aleksander Kulisiewicz spent six years in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, imprisoned soon after the Nazi invasion and their attempted destruction of Poland. In the camp he found a unique role both as a composer and living tape recorder of the world of the unfree and the damned. Blessed with a photographic memory prisoners, many of whom knew they were to be killed, would ask him to remember their songs. Songs of resistance and defiance, songs of love and home, songs that captured the brutality of life and death in the camps. He would also write 50 of his own songs. Performances would take place in secret, at night, away from the eyes of the SS. Kulisiewicz survived a death march at the war’s end and recovered to become the foremost chronicler, in song, of the world of the Concentration Camps. He would obsessively document memories and songs until the end of his life in 1982. In the 1960s he became an unlikely attraction in festivals of folk song for youth rebelling against the silence of their parents generation. Strumming his guitar liberated from Sachsenhausen, performing in his camp uniform, Kulisiewicz would sing his songs from the depths of hell. Oral historian Alan Dein explores his life and musical legacy.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Documentary PodcastBy BBC World Service

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

1,607 ratings


More shows like The Documentary Podcast

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,639 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

375 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,046 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,520 Listeners

Witness History by BBC World Service

Witness History

964 Listeners

The History Hour by BBC World Service

The History Hour

584 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,763 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,049 Listeners

The Interview by BBC World Service

The Interview

358 Listeners

Lives Less Ordinary by BBC World Service

Lives Less Ordinary

583 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

965 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

407 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

410 Listeners

The Inquiry by BBC World Service

The Inquiry

731 Listeners

The Audio Long Read by The Guardian

The Audio Long Read

849 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

366 Listeners

Today in Focus by The Guardian

Today in Focus

986 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,177 Listeners

The Missing Cryptoqueen by BBC Sounds

The Missing Cryptoqueen

1,003 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

720 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,002 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

386 Listeners