The Liberation of Auschwitz

The Apollo Club Commemorates the 70th Anniversary on January 27

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Jan. 27, 2015) — Entering into its 120th consecutive season, The Apollo Club presents a reflective commemoration and celebration of the Liberation of Auschwitz at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 – the exact date of the liberation 70 years ago.

In honor of this historic day, the Apollo Male Chorus of Minneapolis-St. Paul will be performing a special concert incorporating Arnold Schoenberg's rarely heard A Survivor from Warsaw, along with the World Premiere of noted composer James Bassi's Five Prayers, commissioned by The Apollo Club. Five Prayers is a five-movement symphonic song cycle for male chorus, written in both Hebrew and English, with solo baritone, orchestra, and dancer. The Schoenberg and Bassi compositions are seamlessly integrated with Aaron Copland's Preamble for a Solemn Occasion and other symphonic pieces specifically composed for war-torn and liberated Europe.

The concert is artistically conceived to begin and end liberatingly with the darkest moment in the center of the program, to symbolically represent the U-shaped Jewish menorah. It begins in the light, moves through the darkness, and re-enters the light. It truly is a concert about Liberation and a return to life. Audience members alike will find themselves touched, moved and inspired by this experience.

In addition to the Apollo Male Chorus, the program features several guests:
David Winkworth – Narrator in A Survivor from Warsaw and Preamble for a Solemn Occasion and Chorus member of St. John The Evangelist Episcopal Church.
Aaron James – Baritone soloist of New York City Opera and The Met, long-time Male Choir Soloist with Congregation Shearith Israel and Milken Archives project.
James Andrews – Classically trained Ballet Dancer from New York City who has performed with the Joffrey Ballet as well as Boston, Tulsa, and Atlanta Ballet companies.
Members from the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera Orchestra.

5% of proceeds from this concert will be donated to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota & The Dakota

Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Pre-concert discussion with Composer and Artistic Director at 6:15 p.m.

According to an article from the Deutsche Welle, the European Court just made it easier for those who don't speak German (well) to study in Germany. The European Court has decided:

Wenn Ausländer aus Nicht-EU-Staaten in Deutschland studieren wollen, müssen sie bestimmte Zulassungsbedingungen erfüllen. Sie brauchen gültige Passpapiere und eine Krankenversicherung, sie müssen an einer Hochschule zugelassen sein und für die Kosten ihres Aufenthaltes selbst aufkommen können. Außerdem dürfen sie keine Bedrohung für die öffentliche Ordnung, Sicherheit oder Gesundheit darstellen.

Roughly translated: 

People all around the world are mourning the loss of Robin Williams and the tragedy of his death. Here are 3 articles for German learners to honor the late, great actor and comedian.

Easier:  From the Deutsche Welle:  http://dw.de/p/1Csji

Medium:  From Focus.de:  http://www.focus.de/kultur/kino_tv/polizei-berichtet-hollywoodstar-robin-williams-ist-tot_id_4053766.html

Advanced:  From Spiegel.de:  http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/robin-williams-nachruf-auf-den-us-schauspieler-a-985686.html

The German Settlement Heritage Society of Hudson, Wisconsin is hosting a bread bake at the restored brick oven on June 1, 2014 from 4-6 p.m.

The restored brick oven is at 837 County Rd. N, Hudson, WI 54016 (5 miles east of Hudson, WI) and is on the site of the first German settlement in the area, the Nicholas Schwalen farm.

Nutrition and Outreach Specialist Ross Safford will be conducting the demonstration with his humor, dough-tossing techniques, and stories of baking bread.

Here are a few photos of last year's bread bake, which was as much a fascinating history lesson as it was a delicious, bread-eating experience.

Be sure to sign up for the RSS feed for this blog, as next week there will be a special post on the German Settlement Cemetery, which you can also visit when you head out to the bread bake. In fact, you can see the cemetery from the site of the brick oven!

Ross Safford preparing to bake, entertain, and feed the folks!

This Guardian article reports that the German justice ministry has determined that Germany's state institutions must make their language gender-neutral. That's right--no more der, die, das.

Wer, wie, was?!

So perhaps everything will become 'das,' so "das Baum," "das Auto," and "das Flasche." Or maybe it will all become 'die,' so 'die Baum,' 'die Auto,' and 'die Flasche.'

Woah!

Certainly the cases would become easier, and so would learning vocabulary, but wouldn't that take some of the fun out of it? Nothing is more exciting to an advanced intermediate student who guesses at an article and guesses correctly. It's a great feeling of accomplishment.

So here are my two questions for you, please comment below:

1. Do you think this is a good idea?

2. Do you think all languages should drop the gender of nouns?

The White Rose Exhibit is free to school classes, university classes, and the general public. All information is in English and German, and special events will be held at each location. For scheduling and special events information, please contact the organizer at a location that is convenient for you.

This exhibition displays the individuals and activities of the White Rose, a student resistance group that opposed the dictatorship of Nazi Germany. This group actively fought against the oppression of civil liberties and the persecution of Jews, and demanded an end to the war. The White Rose produced and distributed a total of six leaflets calling for resistance against the regime. After being discovered, the core members (six young students and one professor) were executed by the Nazi terror regime. Other members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Also note the Wisconsin connection to Nazi-Resistance and the White Rose: Mildred Fish-Harnack.  She was from WI, the only American woman, and was executed on Hitler's orders.

Thanks to Siggi Pivek at the Milwaukee German Immersion School for this information!