Shantel – Kids of the Diaspora
His music combines elements of Klezmer and Balkan beats. When the television channel Das Erste broadcast the opening ceremony of “1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany” on 21 February, the audience was treated to a new song by Frankfurt musician Shantel.
Born Stefan Hantel, Shantel was asked by our society to compose a piece for the Year of Celebration. “Kids of the Diaspora”, a track featuring an international group of artists, combines elements of Jewish and Southeast European musical traditions with the message: Cultures flow together, merge, and something new arises.
Shantel, who traces his roots to Bukovina in modern-day Ukraine, states that he is the first German musician to produce a music video in Israel; he has been performing in Israel regularly since the 1990s.
ODBLU – Each Day
“Each Day” is the result of a cooperation between the society “321-2021: 1700 Jahre jüdisches Leben in Deutschland e.V.” and the musical artist known as ODBLU.
The song came about through intense discussions between Andrei Kovacs, the society’s executive managing director, and singer/songwriter Oliver Wimmer aka ODBLU on the topic of 1700 years of Jewish life. As a result of their exchange, Andrei Kovacs gave the artist maximum musical and lyrical freedom to explore the topic.
The result is a catchy pop song with contemplative lyrics that involve the singer asking himself how he would have acted at the beginning of the 20th century in the face of rising antisemitism that ended in the greatest crime in the history of humankind, the Shoah. Would he have acted upon the courage of his own convictions or simply followed the crowd? And how about today?
Ben Salomo – Deduschka
After the attempted mass murder of Jews on 9 October 2019 in Halle/Saale where two people lost their lives, Jews all over Germany were repeatedly asked how they were faring today. In “Deduschka” (English: grandfather), Ben Salomo gives one response among many from the Jewish community. In the song, which was released on the anniversary of the attack, the artist raps about the loss of trust and the dilemma of being home where one no longer feels safe: “Deduschka, you trusted them, but your trust was taken from me. And despite everything, I am home here, have been for seventeen hundred years, can you believe it?”
At the same time, he speaks of the hope that his own grandchildren might be free of these fears and worries: “And if my own grandkids ask me one day, Sabale (grandpa), how was it in the days of your childhood? Then I hope to tell them, they no need no longer worry!”
Lyrics “Dedushka” (Ben Solomon)
1st verse:
I’ve lived in this country forever,
the country that Dedushka has chosen,
I was still small, was not asked,
I had no idea about the common history,
countless generations,
Millions of my ancestors have already lived here,
but this country has not protected them,
as hard as they tried, they were not rewarded,
how many more memorials are needed,
until the last tear drips from our eyes,
Jewish life, in fact,
Synagogues, museums, as if stuffed,
or behind bulletproof glass,
ready for the next one who plans an attack,
waiting for the next massacre,
disguised as criticism of Israel, which is allowed…
Refrain:
Dedushka, you trusted them,
but your trust was robbed from me,
despite all this, I am at home here,
for seventeen hundred years, can you believe it?
And once my children ask me,
Abale, how was it in your childhood?
What should I tell my children?
What will I tell my children?
Dedushka, you trusted them,
but your trust was abruptly betrayed,
despite all this, we are at home here,
for seventeen hundred years, can you believe it?
And once my grandchildren ask me,
Sabale, how was it in your childhood days?
then I would like to say to my grandchildren,
you no longer have to be plagued by this….
2nd verse:
I look back over the horizon,
to the land from which the fathers of my ancestors came,
before the Romans drove them out,
the ancestors of the fathers, of Europe, of these days,
like thousand-year-old olive trees,
our roots in the soil of Zion are undeniable,
we no longer have to dream about it,
our nation has risen to shine as a light!
Refrain:
Dedushka, you trusted them,
but your trust was robbed from me,
that’s why I was never at home here,
not for seventeen hundred years, can you believe it?
And once my children ask me,
Abale, how was it in your childhood days?
Then I want to say to my children,
Come here, all of you, into my arms,
Dedushka, you trusted them,
but your trust was abruptly betrayed,
that’s why you were never at home here,
not for seventeen hundred years, can you believe it?
And once my grandchildren ask me,
Sabale, how was it in your childhood days?
Then I will tell my grandchildren,
never again will we let ourselves be chased away…
