Song Lyrics and Credits

1. Packing Her Bag

SONG DESCRIPTION:

A whistle blows as a train leaves Frankfurt, Germany, in October 1941. A teenage Jewish girl on board has quickly gathered her precious possessions into a bag, not knowing what to pack for a destination unknown to her. After a two-day journey, this train would arrive at the Łódź Ghetto in Poland.

Music by: Brendan Nolan
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals, guitar, and bodhrán: Brendan Nolan
Fiddle and whistle: Colin Farrell

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2. Between the Lines

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Jewish women in ghettos, camps, and resistance movements secretly wrote and performed poetry about their grim circumstances, as well as happier memories of the past and hopes for a future. Since writing was banned by the Nazis, women resorted to creative ways to share their words, including hiding poems in the hems of their dresses.

Music by: Joel Mandelkern
Arranged by: Gustavo Eiriz
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals: Mella Barnes
Piano: Julian Bond
Guitar: Gustavo Eiriz
Violin: Davey Copeland
Clarinet: Michael Grant
Backing vocals: Michelle Amato

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3. Timing Is Everything

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Concealing her Jewish identity, Vladka Meed, a young courier, smuggled children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and provided aid to Jews in hiding. At great risk to herself, she supplied weapons and a map of the Treblinka death camp to fellow members of the resistance movement, who staged the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 1943.

Music by: Joel Mandelkern and Justin Chase
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and piano: Justin Chase
Violin: Davey Copeland
Backing vocals: Michelle Amato

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4. Bowl of Soup

SONG DESCRIPTION:

In the Warsaw Ghetto, children frequently risked their lives to smuggle food to feed their families, crawling through barbed wire or squeezing through holes in ghetto walls under the eyes of the German authorities. This song was inspired by Mendel Grossman's photograph of a young boy serving soup to his sister in the Łódź Ghetto.

Music by: Brendan Nolan
Adapted from the song “Twilight” © Ould Segosha Music 2007
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and guitar: Brendan Nolan
Fiddle: Colin Farrell

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5. No Art

SONG DESCRIPTION:

On a teachers’ trip to Auschwitz in 1991, survivor Norbert Wollheim shared his personal struggles and losses as a prisoner at this death camp. His story revealed the complexity of survival, both at that time and after. As we were leaving, he paused at the railroad tracks, and I thought of his pain in recalling those memories.

Music by: Joel Mandelkern
Arranged by: Gustavo Eiriz
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals: Meghan Hone
Piano: Julian Bond
Violin: Gustavo Eiriz

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6. You Never Saw Another Butterfly

SONG DESCRIPTION:

In the ghetto of Theresienstadt, young poet Pavel Friedmann wrote of missing the sight of butterflies, while also giving thanks for the chestnut tree and dandelions he observed. This song is inspired by the mournful yet bright imagery of his poem.
Music by: Colin Farrell
Arranged by: Brendan Nolan
Adapted from the song “The Mangerton Suite” © 2015 Colin Farrell
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and guitar: Brendan Nolan
Fiddle and whistle: Colin Farrell
Backing vocals: Michelle Amato
butterfly illustration

7. The Likeness of a Man

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Hailing from a prominent Swedish family and guided by his grandfather, Raoul Wallenberg was a young businessman and architect who poured his energy and passion into saving the last Jews of Budapest. In 1944 he rescued tens of thousands of Jews by creating safe spaces and forging passports showing the holder was under the protection of the Swedish government.

Music by: Joel Mandelkern and Susan Davis
Arranged by: Justin Chase and George Sumrall
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and piano: Justin Chase
Cello: Elise Jimenez

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8. Kissing the Wall

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Belgian priest Father Bruno (born Henri Reynders) saved hundreds of Jewish children by hiding them in convents, monasteries, and homes. Flora Mendelowicz (Singer), who was rescued by Father Bruno, shared her lifelong gratitude and affection for him when serving as my guide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Music by: Brendan Nolan
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and guitar: Brendan Nolan
Fiddle: Colin Farrell
Backing vocals: Michelle Amato

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9. Mr. Sugihara’s Eyes

SONG DESCRIPTION:

In the summer of 1940, Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, stationed in Kovno, Lithuania, requested permission to write visas for Jews who wanted to flee Europe with their families. Japan denied his plea, leaving him with a dilemma: obey his government or obey his conscience. Encouraged by his wife, Yukiko, he wrote 2,139 visas, saving thousands of lives.

Music by: Dave Curley
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals, guitar, mandolin, and bodhrán: Dave Curley

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10. Watching Myself Watch My Son

SONG DESCRIPTION:

From December 1938 until the start of the war, Jewish parents sent ten thousand children through the Kindertransport program to the relative safety of Great Britain. In this song, a Jewish parent in Germany says goodbye to a son boarding a train on his way to live with a family in England. The parent is confronted with a kaleidoscope of emotions after the child’s departure.

Music by: Brendan Nolan
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and guitar: Brendan Nolan

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11. I Am That Child

SONG DESCRIPTION:

After leaving Berlin for England via the Kindertransport program, a boy is placed in the home of a loving Quaker couple. He is thankful for their kindness and care, but each night he wonders if he will see his family again.

Music by: George Sumrall and Penny Walsh
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals: Jackson Chase
Piano: Justin Chase
Cello: Elise Jimenez

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12. Parallel Limbs

SONG DESCRIPTION:

The poet Pavel Friedmann imprisoned in Theresienstadt and the diarist Anne Frank hidden in Amsterdam both beheld chestnut trees and praised the beauty and solace of nature in their writings.

Music by: Brendan Nolan
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and guitar: Brendan Nolan
Fiddle and whistle: Colin Farrell

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13. Lines in Space

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Child prodigy and devotee of Jules Verne, fourteen-year-old Petr Ginz was forced from his home in Prague to Theresienstadt. Packing his unfinished manuscript and art supplies, Petr made plans to continue his academic studies and artistic endeavors in this ghetto. He inspired other boys to contribute to a secret magazine that he started and edited. In 2000 two Czech astronomers discovered an asteroid that was later named Petrginz in honor of this young man who was fascinated with the cosmos.

Music by: Joel Mandelkern
Arranged by: Gustavo Eiriz
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals: Miles Simmons
Violin and guitar: Gustavo Eiriz
Piano: Julian Bond

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14. Sutzkever’s Stars

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Avrom Sutzkever was a Yiddish poet who taught in the Vilna Ghetto and later fought as a partisan in the surrounding forest. After the war, he testified as a witness at the Nuremberg trials. He documented his experiences, including the death of his mother and son, through poetry. His poem “Unter dayne vayse shtern” (“Beneath Your White Stars”) was set to music and sung in the ghetto. His poetic images continue to haunt and to inspire.

Music by: Ed Krout and Chris Cortez
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals: Michelle Amato
Piano: Ed Krout
Guitar: Chris Cortez
Clarinet: Josh Plotner

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15. So the World Would Know

SONG DESCRIPTION:

As the head of the Oyneg Shabes group, historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum led scholars and volunteers in gathering documents in the Warsaw Ghetto. Their mission: to preserve Jewish culture and accounts of spiritual and armed resistance so the world would know what happened there. After learning the Nazis were sending the Jews of Warsaw to a death camp, Dr. Ringelblum gave the order to start burying the archived documents.

Music by: Cantor Allan Robuck
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and piano: Cantor Allan Robuck
Violin: Davey Copeland

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16. Recounting

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Parents in the Warsaw Ghetto mourned the loss of their children's innocence while trying to provide comfort in the face of dire conditions. Now Jewish parents in America struggle to tell this tragic history, cautiously hoping and praying that these hateful actions will never be repeated.

Music by: Joel Mandelkern
Arranged by: Gustavo Eiriz
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals: Meghan Hone
Piano: Julian Bond
Violin: Davey Copeland

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17. Beneath White Stars

SONG DESCRIPTION:

Avrom Sutzkever in Vilna sought strength from God’s hand beneath the stars. Petr Ginz in Theresienstadt tilled ideas that rose like shining stars. Pavel Friedmann and Anne Frank in solitude penned odes praising nature from a distance. And children on journeys alone were guided by the familiar stars above.

Music by: Dave Curley
Lyrics by: Holly Mandelkern

Vocals and guitar: Dave Curley
Fiddle and whistle: Colin Farrell
Backing vocals: Ashley Davis

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