"Ani Maamin" ("I believe"). Yom HaShoah. Death Camp Film Footage. Holocaust Song. Moving Jewish Music. Hebrew Song

A heartrending Jewish folk song that was sung by Holocaust martyrs on route to the gas chambers. A fitting song for Yom HaShoah and International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The title means "I believe." The song is sung here by Marc Berman (that's me). *The Nazis failed to exterminate the Jewish people. But, in murdering six million Yiddish speakers, they did nearly destroy Yiddish music. Only perhaps twenty or so Yiddish songs remain widely known. Many thousands of others have seemingly disappeared. Please don't let Nazi evil triumph . My channel is a labor of love, dedicated to uncovering and sharing pre-holocaust Jewish songs, in particular Yiddish songs. While my videos have received over 245,000 views, I receive no revenue from them. So, to help keep rare Yiddish music alive, I need your help. Your contribution, no matter the size, directly funds my search for "vanished" music scores, and the technology needed to record and share these gems. Please support my mission by becoming a Patreon member at www.patreon.com/CantorClassics , or by donating any amount (or joining) at www.buymeacoffee.com/cantorclassics . Your generous donation will help keep vintage Jewish songs alive for generations to come. Thanks so much!*<br /><br />The melody of the emotional Holocaust music heard in the video may have come from an existing folk song. However, there is a story told by some that Azriel David Fastag composed it. Fastag was a Modzitzer Hasid whose compositions were regularly sung in the court of the Modzitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Shaul Yedidya Elazar. As the story goes, Fastag composed the melody in a cattle car while being taken to the Treblinka death camp. He stated to those with him that he would give half of his share of the world to come to whomever would give the tune to the Modzitzer Rebbe. Two men then leaped from the moving train. One died from the fall. But the other survived. That survivor eventually brought the tune to the Rebbe's son in Israel. The son sent his father the music.<br /><br />The text of "Ani Maamin" is adopted from Rabbi Moses Maimonides' (1135-1204) 12th principle of Jewish faith, the belief in the coming of a messiah. Here is a full translation of the song lyrics: "I believe, with complete faith, in the coming of the messiah. And, even though his arrival may be delayed, I still believe!"<br /><br />The 1945 United States War Department film "Death Mills," from which the video's footage was taken, was directed by none other than the famous Billy Wilder. I arranged the instrumental accompaniment heard in the audio, for violin, bassoon and piano.