The Nazis used to categorize Jews in the death camps as first- or second-degree mischling. Mischling β mischlinge in the plural β in the first meant you had two Jewish grandparents; second-degree credited your Jewishness to a single grandparent.
New York pianist Carolyn Engerβs father was classified as first-degree; his maternal grandparents were Jewish, although his mother had converted to Christianity before she married.
Engerβs German father was in his early 20s when he was put in the camps at the height of World War II, and he fled when France liberated the country. His stories, which he told in dribs and drabs, are secondary and yet central to Engerβs very personal multimedia project βThe Mischlinge ExposΓ©,β which Daniel Asia will bring to the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music on Thursday, Jan. 18.
Enger curated the program that traces her family history and her own journey in Judaism. The program, co-sponsored in Tucson by UA Judaic Studies, includes videos of her fatherβs and godmotherβs experiences in Germany, and art and thoughts of prominent converts woven in with live performances of music by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Zemlinsky, Mahler, Schoenberg, Eisler and Ben-Haim.
Enger curated the program that traces her family history and her own journey from Christianity to Judaism.
Thursday’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. at Crowder Hall, North Park Avenue and East Speedway at the School of Music. Admission is free. Details: music.arizona.edu
