The documentary about how my grandfather David Wisnia survived the Holocaust & our recent journey back to Poland as a family is here, making its world premiere at the Hot Docs International Festival! “How Saba Kept Singing” features music by my Saba and me, plus an original song I wrote for the film.
When the director Sara Taksler told us about the premiere in Toronto, she invited our family to attend. How often does a film about your family get a premiere? So here we are, in Canada, and the family will attend the first screening on Sun May 1, with a special live music performance that will immediately follow the film.
Stay tuned for more information about screenings and festival appearances coming up in the next few months. This is just the beginning of the journey for this film! Eventually, we will all be able to watch “How Saba Kept Singing” together soon.
For those of you who knew my grandfather, for those of you who have been following our journey together over the past few years, you know how important this story is. My grandfather at first did not speak openly about his experience surviving the horrors of the Holocaust. But towards the end of his life, he found it important and necessary to talk about it. Although he passed away last summer, he was able to know that his story will be immortalized on film, able to reach a wider audience, a global audience. His story, his legacy, his voice will live on. I miss him every day, and while all of this is very overwhelming and emotional, I look forward to seeing him again, alive and singing, on a big screen. I’m excited for everyone to get to know my Saba.
The last trip we took together was back to Auschwitz.
Little did I know that the pandemic would hit just a few months later, and that I would lose my grandfather this past summer.
What I did know was that this day would eventually come, a day commemorating the Holocaust – without my Saba, without his presence, only recordings of his voice, only his words to quote. In 2020, we went back to Poland one last time to bear witness, to speak of the unspeakable, to sing in spite of those who tried to silence.
And he did sing. David Wisnia sang in full voice at the gates of Hell, pictured here, where the Nazis transported thousands upon thousands to be tortured and die, simply because they were different, simply because people were told that by separating them, hurting them, killing them – all their problems would be solved.
But we know better. Our problems are never solved by hurting others.
On this Yom HaShoah Day of Remembrance, I promise to Never Forget, to continue to tell my grandfather’s story of surviving the Holocaust. I will continue to keep my grandfather’s voice alive. My grandfather said to do good in this world. To make yourself a blessing.
As it is written in Hebrew: “V’Heyeh Brachah”
As human beings we are capable of inflicting great pain upon each, and we are capable of doing incredible good. Kindness. Compassion. Seeking justice. Standing up for what is right. What we ourselves choose to do impacts others, for we are all responsible for one another.
Remember the words of my grandfather. Choose to be a blessing.
I created a new section of my website to record the stories of our travels and performances together, with videos and other music to share. Read and follow our journey back to Poland here: www.mypolishwisnia.com
Join me for two streaming event this week to help commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day and honor my grandfather’s story of survival.
Tuesday April 26, Living Links Presentation Mercer County Community College NJ (register)
Wednesday April 27, My Polish Wisnia Presentation & Service Sinai Temple, Springfield MA (register)
Walking in the Steps of Our Grandparents: A Virtual Discussion with the Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors
Hosted by 3G organizations (grandchildren of Holocaust survivors) around the country, join us for a moderated online panel discussion with 3G’s who have all traveled to their grandparents’ home countries. We will hear about their individual experiences and explore various aspects of each powerful journey that was taken to discover a deeper understanding of their family’s roots. This event is free and open to the public.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 7:30pm ET on Zoom Register to Attend the Virtual Event HERE
Read more about Avi Wisnia and his travels with his grandfather, Holocaust survivor and cantor David S. Wisnia: My Polish Wisnia
Remembering Cantor and Holocaust Survivor David Wisnia 1926 – 2021
Cantor David S. Wisnia, 94, passed away on Tuesday, June 15, 2021.
David Wisnia was a vocalist, composer, educator and beloved community leader. Later in life, he would use his powerful baritone to share with the world his remarkable tale of surviving the Holocaust through story and song, tracing his harrowing journey from young Polish singing star to Auschwitz prisoner to American liberator with the 101st Airborne. Cantor Wisnia’s remarkable singing voice helped save him in the Nazi concentration camp.
David was born in the town of Sochaczew, Poland on August 31, 1926. He was a star student of the Yavneh-Tarbut Hebrew School System and he had mastered multiple languages – including German, French, Yiddish, and Hebrew – by the age of 10. He received vocal training as a pupil of director/composer Maestro A.Z. Davidovich. David also learned from renowned Cantors Gershon Sirota and Moshe Koussevitsky, mentors who taught him how to blend Jewish tradition with an operatic style.
As young David’s singing career began to flourish, he and his family – father Eliahu, mother Machla, older brother Moshe and younger brother Dov – moved to the capital city of Warsaw. David was soon performing in synagogues, in theaters, and on Polish radio. But on September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and soon after, the local Jewish population was forced into a small section of the city that would become the Warsaw Ghetto. One day, David returned home to find his father, mother, and younger brother murdered by the Nazi SS. David’s older brother had escaped the ghetto but was never seen again. Eventually David was captured and taken by cattle-car to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
David was a prisoner of Auschwitz for close to 3 years. He stayed alive by singing to entertain the Nazi guards and cell block leaders. While in the notorious death camp, he composed two songs that became popular with the inmates. One song is in Polish, “Oswieçim” (Auschwitz), and the other in Yiddish, “Dos Vaise Haizele” (The Little White House In The Woods), which is now on display at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. After being transferred to Dachau and surviving a Death March in December 1944, David managed to escape into the nearby woods. He was soon found and rescued by the American 101st Airborne Division. Joining with the 506th Parachute Infantry, he was adopted as their “Little Davey” and was able to put his language skills to work as an interpreter. He engaged actively in combat during the closing days of the war with Germany in 1945, transforming from a survivor to a liberator.
When the army brought him back with them to the United States in 1946, David set about building a new life in New York City. He began selling encyclopedias for the Wonderland of Knowledge company, eventually rising in the ranks to Vice President of Sales. He worked hard to support his wife, Hope, and their four children. He traveled often, but he always made sure to be home in time for Friday night Shabbat dinner – just as his father Eliahu had done for his family back in Sochaczew.
When the family moved to Pennsylvania, David and Hope helped grow a new thriving Jewish community in the Bucks County area. David served as Cantor of Temple Shalom in Levittown, PA for 28 years, and then as Cantor for Har Sinai Hebrew Congregation of Trenton, NJ for 23 years. After retiring, he remained an active part of the community, teaching classes on cantilation and Hebrew language, leading communities in prayer, and performing numerous life-cycle events: baby namings, bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies, weddings and funerals around the country. David also became a member of the American Conference of Cantors within the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
David would go on to perform internationally, singing in Buenos Aires’ Libertad Synagogue, Israel’s Yad Vashem, and Warsaw’s Nozik Synagogue (1986) where he officiated at the first formal Bar Mitzvah ceremony to be held in Poland since World War II – the same synagogue where Wisnia sang as a choir boy over 70 years prior. David also performed concert tours with his grandson, singer/songwriter and pianist Avi Wisnia. Most recently, David returned to Poland to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz at a 2020 event attended by concentration camp survivors and prominent heads of state, which was televised to an international audience of millions. He frequently said that one of his greatest honors was being called up to sing the US national anthem at the annual 101st Airborne Snowbird Reunion in Tampa, Florida, where veterans of World War II still called him Little Davey.
Towards the end of his life, David Wisnia found it increasingly urgent to share his experiences of living through the Holocaust. He published his memoir, “One Voice, Two Lives,” (2015) to ensure that this chapter of history will never be forgotten. His story has been featured in The New York Times, The Daily Mail, The Jewish Exponent, Buzzfeed, and in many other outlets around the world.
David led presentations about the Holocaust for audiences at synagogues, schools, and museums, and he was a frequent guest lecturer at Stockton University in New Jersey, at the invitation of Professor Douglas Cervi. David loved connecting most with students and young people, taking selfies with them, and imploring them to think about the impact they have on the world around them. When asked what he hoped the students took away from his story, he would say, “Do away with hate. Prejudice and hatred leads to death. There is a saying in the Torah: God tells Abraham ‘You shall be a Blessing’ and that is my message, that each and every one of us should ‘be a blessing.’ We should do good in this world, and be good to one another. Live a life with meaning and purpose, and leave this world a better place than when you entered it.”
David will certainly be remembered for his incredible voice, but he will also be remembered for his love of hot soup, fancy cars, and making friends with anyone and everyone he came into contact with. Husband of the late Hope Wisnia, he is survived by his two sons and daughters-in-law, Rabbi Eric and Judith Wisnia, Michael and Misa Wisnia; two daughters and sons-in-law, Karen Wisnia and Kirk Wattles, Jana and Lee Dickstein; and five grandchildren, Sara (Matthew Schiffer) and Avi Wisnia, Rachel and Ethan Dickstein, and Naomi Wattles. He was also grandfather of the late Dov Benjamin Wisnia.
David will be dearly missed by so many, but his story, his voice, and his legacy will continue to resonate from generation to generation.
Read the complete obituary HERE. Read the New York Times tribute HERE.
A public memorial for Cantor Wisnia will be held on Sunday, August 22, 2021 at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.
To honor the life of Cantor David Wisnia, donations can be made to the following:
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, working to preserve the legacy of and educate about the Holocaust: DONATE
New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education: mail a check for the commission to P.O. Box 500, Trenton NJ 08625, c/o Prof. Doug Cervi (memo: in honor of David Wisnia)
Music saved my grandfather in Auschwitz. Hear his story.
I’m honored to be giving this virtual talk with the Seattle Holocaust Center for Humanity.
“Avi Wisnia joins the museum Lunch&Learn Series where we hear from children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, notable speakers on timely issues, and historical experts; these programs aim to present perspectives and voices that challenge and inspire people to confront bigotry, racism, and indifference, and to consider how their actions make a difference. Tune in live, from anywhere – details HERE
