By: Sandy Eller
Living
in an age where the sixty second sound bites rules and a world of
information can be carried in the palm of your hand, we constantly look
ahead to the next new obsession, making it more important than ever to
stay connected to our roots in order to ensure that as time continues
its exorable march forward, the legacy that is our past stays fresh in
our minds. As the last living witnesses to the horrors of Hitler’s
unspeakable schemes live out their golden years, the movement to deny
the Holocaust gains momentum, seeking to eradicate one of the defining
periods in Jewish history by revising the annals of history.
It
is the continuity of the Jewish people that has defined us for
centuries and it is incumbent upon all of us to become the voice of
those who survived as their numbers continue to dwindle, sharing their
story with future generations so that the lessons of the past will not
soon be forgotten. Every Jewish child that is brought onto this earth
is living testimony to the eternal nature of the Jewish people and the
greatest revenge that could ever be brought against Hitler and his army
of evildoers. Now more than ever, we must continue to forge the chain
that binds us to our past, by sharing the survival of our ancestors
during the darkest moments in history, with our youth, our brightest
hope and our link to the future.
Rainbow
in the Night, a short YouTube clip, is a brief but exceptionally
powerful video created specifically for today’s fast paced generation.
Using stunning cinematography, a haunting score, hard hitting lyrics
and vocals that will touch the deepest recesses of the soul, this
historical work offers a glimpse into World War II Krakow as seen
through the eyes of a survivor. Beginning with footage of a 1939 oil
painting of a synagogue being ravaged by the Nazis, shown at a private
event in the survivor’s home, Rainbow in the Night is an exquisitely
emotional journey, as the survivor recalls first the warmth of his
childhood home, then the shock and disbelief as people are forced to
leave their homes for the Krakow ghetto, taken to an extermination camp
and after enduring unspeakable cruelty, finally liberated. Set against a
backdrop of utter despair and hopelessness, the survivor relives the
inexplicable power that enabled him to persevere, the rainbow in the
figurative night that promised better days to come. Culminating
triumphantly with our hope for the future, the faces of hundreds of
modern day Jewish children, Rainbow in the Night is both a euphoric
tribute to the indomitable human spirit that enabled the Jewish people
to survive against all odds and also a call to arms, to rekindle the
spark of Jewish pride and unity among Jews worldwide, as we continue to
rebuild the generations that were destroyed by the Nazis.
Filmed
in New York, Krakow and inside the Majdanek concentration camp, this
first ever music video depicting the Holocaust was directed by Daniel
Finkelman, with cinematography by Mauricio Arenas and produced by both
Finkelman and Arenas. With a stirring title track written and composed
by executive producer Cecelia Margules and sung by legendary tenor
Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, Rainbow in the Night is an epic historical work
that will allow the voices of survivors to be heard for generations to
come.
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