I think this is one of my favorite songs that you've posted so far, partly just because I love that man's voice. The heartbreak of every refugee's story is multiplied by the number of people who have turned them away. It was not enough that those people had to flee the Nazis. They were told by dozens of people, dozens of countries really, that they were not worth the trouble of being saved. It reminds me of the Christmas story, when Mary is told to give birth in a stable. So often, we say it is unfortunate but we cannot help these people, it is too impractical, it will hurt the economy, but really they are people who must be saved and we must save them. It reminds me of immigrants at the border, so desperate to leave their homes that they sneak in and give themselves up to the whims of politicians. I suppose I ought to focus on Sugihara writing all those visas, but all I can think of is that he should not have been the only one and imagine all the people trapped in Poland after he left. Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks, Cart. I am enjoying doing these weekly posts. There are so many wonderful songs from so many places and eras that it's hard to choose! I hope that word of this projects will spread because it's interesting and useful (in my opinion).
Apr 5, 2023·edited Apr 5, 2023Liked by Louise Haynes
This is powerful on a number of levels, one of which is that many of my students don't know the history of this time in Europe. Their focus in school was on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They may not know why it was so urgent to leave Poland. This song opens a window.
It also shows how courage over 80 years ago still affects today.
I didn't know about this part of history either. I think it was when I was doing research on David Rovics' songs several years ago that I came across this particular song of his. It's very touching. Sugihara is a person to emulate.
I think this is one of my favorite songs that you've posted so far, partly just because I love that man's voice. The heartbreak of every refugee's story is multiplied by the number of people who have turned them away. It was not enough that those people had to flee the Nazis. They were told by dozens of people, dozens of countries really, that they were not worth the trouble of being saved. It reminds me of the Christmas story, when Mary is told to give birth in a stable. So often, we say it is unfortunate but we cannot help these people, it is too impractical, it will hurt the economy, but really they are people who must be saved and we must save them. It reminds me of immigrants at the border, so desperate to leave their homes that they sneak in and give themselves up to the whims of politicians. I suppose I ought to focus on Sugihara writing all those visas, but all I can think of is that he should not have been the only one and imagine all the people trapped in Poland after he left. Thank you for sharing this!
Indeed. There are so many questions we could ask (hindsight?). Maybe one of the most important is how do we prevent this from happening again?
I love this! The format of the blog and the explanation of the story - especially the context of the Japanese language and vocabulary!
Impressive!!!
Thanks, Cart. I am enjoying doing these weekly posts. There are so many wonderful songs from so many places and eras that it's hard to choose! I hope that word of this projects will spread because it's interesting and useful (in my opinion).
I plan to tell as many people as possible!!
Bless you, kind sir. 🙏🏽
This is powerful on a number of levels, one of which is that many of my students don't know the history of this time in Europe. Their focus in school was on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They may not know why it was so urgent to leave Poland. This song opens a window.
It also shows how courage over 80 years ago still affects today.
I didn't know about this part of history either. I think it was when I was doing research on David Rovics' songs several years ago that I came across this particular song of his. It's very touching. Sugihara is a person to emulate.