密歇根新闻广播 奥斯维辛集中营的乐谱

The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps were brutal¹ and violent places. By the end of the Holocaust², an estimated 1.1 million people died or were murdered there by their Nazi³ captors.

But as University of Michigan music theory professor Patricia Hall has learned, prisoners at the camps managed to hold on to some of the beauty of their lives before the war through music. Hall recently discovered the sheet music for a song, arranged by prisoners at Auschwitz, that gives us a glimpse into those lives.

Stateside talked to Hall about her discovery of the manuscript, what we know about the musicians who played it, and what it's like to hear the music played for the first time in more than 75 years.

The song she found was a merry foxtrot called The Most Beautiful Time of Life, a 1941 song written by a popular film composer. Hall says even after hearing it so many times, she still feels deeply moved when she hears it.

It's filled with so much joy, so much euphoria, and then you think about that setting, and that those prisoners were somehow able to be musicians and express that music, Hall said.

Hall discovered the music after getting a tip from someone who worked at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, saying there might be original musical manuscripts in the organization's archives. She was curious enough to make the trip to Poland and investigate further. When Hall got to the archives, she was handed a card catalog. As she flipped⁴ through, she saw titles like Love Letters That Never Arrived, The Most Beautiful Time of Life.

And anybody working in an archive is certainly used to coming across very personal documents. It could be medical records. It could be illicit⁵ love letters. You name it, we've seen it. But I just had to stop what I was doing. I was just so emotionally affected⁶ by this, Hall said.

Hall had the music transcribed⁷ for her students at the University of Michigan to play. In November, they performed the piece at a concert with a packed house.

Listen to the full interview with Patricia Hall above to hear about her plans to do more work with the music of Auschwitz prisoners.

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

5 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 transcribed   

（用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的过去式和过去分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音）

参考例句：

• He transcribed two paragraphs from the book into his notebook. 他把书中的两段抄在笔记本上。
• Every telephone conversation will be recorded and transcribed. 所有电话交谈都将被录音并作全文转写。