MISSION STATEMENT
By honoring the defiance and bravery of the prisoners in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezín) during World War II, performances by The Defiant Requiem Foundation show the role that music and art play in confronting contemporary challenges, including increased Holocaust ignorance, Holocaust denial, and antisemitism. In refusing to forfeit their humanity, the Terezín prisoners taught a universal lesson about the power of music and art to foster hope and inspiration even in the face of monumental suffering, disease, and the constant presence of death. The Foundation’s hallmark concert performance, Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín ; its sister concert, Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer ; its Emmy-nominated documentary film, Defiant Requiem ; along with comprehensive curriculum modules that are designed to frame and enhance Holocaust education all use the courage and cultural resistance of Rafael Schächter and his fellow prisoners to show why the Holocaust must never be forgotten.
BOARD CHAIR STUART E. EIZENSTAT WITH RAPHAEL AND ALEXANDER KRASA, SON AND GRANDSON OF EDGAR KRASA (Z”L), FOLLOWING THE MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE PERFORMANCE. Photo credit: Randy Sager
VISION STATEMENT
The Defiant Requiem Foundation strives to promote awareness and understanding of the dangers of antisemitism, Holocaust ignorance, and Holocaust denial by presenting the singular story, and one with universal application, of Rafael Schächter and prisoners in the Terezín Concentration Camp during the Holocaust who used music and art as an act of defiance to maintain their humanity, dignity, hope, and inspiration. Using original performance art — increasingly on college campuses with student musicians and singers — documentary film, and educational materials geared for middle and high school students, the Foundation offers a unique approach to addressing contemporary issues of bigotry, human rights violations, mass atrocity, and genocide crimes.
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