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The action takes place largely in the imagination of The Survivor, although for him it is the early 1950s. He survived the Holocaust and escaped from Europe. Lost to him were his older Child, a daughter, who was murdered by the Nazis in Terezin, and His Wife, who died in a different camp. Her death came after giving birth to their second daughter, who was eventually reunited with her father. The Survivor has never discussed the events of the Holocaust with her, but does so at the climax of the opera with the touching “Both Your Mothers.” [This poem, by Ficowski, is based on the true story of his wife’s rescue from the Warsaw Ghetto by Holocaust hero Irina Sendler.]
Although the plot deals specifically with the Holocaust, it is really an opera about accepting loss and moving forward, and therefore can be performed in varied forms of programming.
Poets featured in opera include:
- Jerzy Ficowski (translated by Keith Bosley)
- Sara Teasdale
- Koleba
- Anonymous
- Tadeusz Rozewisz (translated by Adam Czerniawski)
- Emily Dickinson
- Pavel Friedman
- Anne Ranasinghe
- Franta Bass
- Christina Rossetti
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