Jazz and Judaism

Abstract

Retaining and rebuilding Jewish identity in German-occupied Poland in the World War II and post-war era was a daunting task. Combining American jazz with European Ashkenazic tradition, Jewish musicians symbolically rebelled during the war, and many wrote displacement camp songs and instrumental pieces immediately following the war. The contextualization and place of these pieces and their jazz influence in the new phase of Ashkenazic culture are explored. Two pieces in particular, The Happy Boys' “We Long For A Home” and related musician Leo Spellman's “Rhapsody 1939-1945,” are used as case studies of displacement camp music because they capture the attitude that characterized Jewish life after the Holocaust. Through the incorporation of jazz, Jewish culture, and versatile expression of music, the Jewish identity could be healed and renewed.