world over the weekend for the annual# Fr ed de Sam Lazaro has the story of one# effort to preserve and honor the music## performed by prisoners in orchestras that# were a fixture in the concentration camps.

His report is part of our arts# and culture series, Canvas.

KENNETH FREED, The Isles Ensemble: This is a## FRED DE SAM LAZARO: An unlikely theme perhaps in a# Minneapolis Lutheran church, but coming just days## after October 7, as violence erupted in the Middle# East, violist Kenneth Freed said a timely one.

KENNETH FREED: This is a particularly# painful and perilous time for all of us.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The works performed by the# Minnesota-based Isles Ensemble ranged widely,## a viola and piano duet of the prayerful Kol# Nidre and various works highlighting Jewish## experience and musical influence, this string# quartet by Felix Mendelssohn for instance,## with a classic Jewish folk song embedded.

Then there was one medley that didn't quite fit# in, or did it?

Here's how it was introduced.

KENNETH FREED: This music you're going to hear is## utterly shocking in its banality.# Heads-up FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Banal, he added, until you# realize that it was arranged by members of the## orchestra at Auschwitz, performed by prisoners for# the entertainment of Nazi S.S. guards apparently briefly setting aside# their loathing of the prisoner musicians.

KENNETH FREED: I can't even imagine.

Let's put# it aside for a Sunday afternoon and we will## pretend that we have this relationship# that isn't based on ethnic cleansing.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Equally jarring, the cheerful,## upbeat tempo and titles of these pieces.

This# tango was called "A Dream of Haiti" (ph).

To provide more context or perspective during# their performance, it was punctuated by## testimonies from the diaries of the prisoners.# This entry was read by cellist Laura Sewell.

LAURA SEWELL, Musician: "The smoke# from the crematorium really annoyed## my colleagues.

It was polluting the# air, and it was hard to see the notes."

KENNETH FREED: It's unimaginable, some# of those quotes.

I can't see the notes,## but at least I get to play.

I mean,# I get to live another day, right?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And the# reason I can't see those notes.

KENNETH FREED: And the reason# I ca crematorium is bellowing s FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The original manuscripts,# the musical arrangements used by the Minnesota## ensemble, reside permanently in# the museum at Auschwitz today.

But they were first brought out# into the world a few years ago## here at the University of# Michigan School of Music.

PATRICIA HALL, University of Michigan# School of Music: I mean, I pers could not write a manuscript# FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Patricia Hall is# a professor of music theory.

In 2018,## she discovered hundreds of manuscripts at# the Auschwitz Museum, popular German songs of the '30s and '40s arranged and adapted# by prisoners for the camp orchestras.

PATRICIA HALL: This prisoner# took the time to create this## symbol of a bird out of musical symbols.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In Nazi death camps, being# selected to play music was a as signment, an alternative to backbreaking# labor.

Still, it was a precarious existence.

PATRICIA HALL: There was a particularly# sadistic guard at the camp who would take## prisoners out of the orchestra and take them to# Block 11 and shoot them.

So there's one anecdote## of one of the musicians estimating that up# to 50 musicians were executed in this way.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Just on a# whim of the guard watching them?

PATRICIA HALL: Yes, just a# whim.

You see this number,## 5665.

And through that number, we have this# photograph.

This is An FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Hall selected# a representative sample of 10,## foxtrots tangos, and waltzes, some with vocals,# to reproduce from trying to stay faithful to how they# would have sounded in the camp.

With the university ensemble# under conductor Oriol Sans,## the music was performed and# recorded here in Ann Arbor.

PATRICIA HALL: I was extremely# careful about retaining exactly## the instrumentation.

I thought these# pieces were going to sound really quirky.

I couldn't believe how beautiful they# sounded.

I was completely surprised.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Another surprise,# audience reaction.

She'd originally planned## to simply archive these recordings# in the university's music library,## figuring they'd be too painful to hear.# But Hall says there was strong interest## at subsequent concerts, including one# at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage.

And it piqued the interest of musicians# like Ken Freed and The Isles Ensemble.

A lot of people, I think, were almost# reluctant to applaud, in a sense.

KENNETH FREED: I felt that too# until we stood up.

And it was like,## I guess we should.

But what# are we clapping for here?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In the# church basement post-concert,## Freed saw how the music had taken the# WO MAN: I don't cry.

And that stuff# in the camps had me in tears.

WOMAN: I just have chills.

Playing# the music would have been one thing,## but really putting those quotes in it, so you# really did imagine yourself as in the c KENNETH FREED: That's kind of the reason# I did today's concert.

It was to provide## context to -- because you feel music# before you start to think about it.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Music drawn for this concert# from the historical breadth of Jewish tradition,## he said, offered as medicine# in a world wracked by conflict.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Fred# de Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Fred's reporting is a# partnership with the Under-Told Stories## Project at the University# of St. Thomas in Minnesota.