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Out of the depths

The first collection of Holocaust songs

Joseph Toltz Anna Boucher

$59.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English
Manchester University Press
14 April 2026
Available for the first time in English translation, this collection of songs is a powerful memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.

In June 1945, before the full devastation of the Holocaust had emerged, a team of researchers embarked on a remarkable project. While documenting the experiences of Jewish refugees, they began to collect songs composed and sung in the Nazi camps and ghettos. The resulting book, Mima'amakim (Out of the depths), was published in a short run of 500 copies. Today, only a handful survive.

Out of the Depths: The first collection of Holocaust songs presents the contents of this extraordinary document for a new generation of readers. Based on a copy of Mima'amakim discovered in 2013, it contains not only the songs' melodies and lyrics, the latter in a new translation by Joseph Toltz, but also short biographies of the composers, drawn from painstaking original research. Introductory essays provide historical and musicological background, deepening our knowledge of this terrible event and the creative means by which the Jewish people responded to and endured it.

Described by the original editor, Yehuda Eismann, as a 'memorial stone for Polish Jewry', the songbook is a timeless document of a people's despair, hope and strength.
By:   ,
Imprint:   Manchester University Press
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 240mm,  Width: 170mm,  Spine: 24mm
Weight:   822g
ISBN:   9781526165671
ISBN 10:   1526165678
Pages:   288
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming

Joseph Toltz is a Jewish music researcher and administrator at the University of Sydney. He is also a composer/arranger, Synagogue conductor and producer. Anna Boucher is an Associate Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. She is the author of Gender, Migration and the Global Race for Talent.

Reviews for Out of the depths: The first collection of Holocaust songs

‘Out of the depths is nothing less than a treasure. In vivid terms, it tells the story of an immensely meaningful text, beginning with its rediscovery in our own times and travelling back to trace the chain of events that led to its production. A gem for those interested in the Holocaust, in music and the rebirth of documents, buried and unknown.’ Hasia Diner, Professor Emerita, New York University ‘This is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand East European Jewish life during the Holocaust. This superb collection of contemporary Yiddish songs is lovingly edited and contextualised by the editors. Powerful and deeply moving.’ Tony Kushner, James Parkes Professor of History, University of Southampton ‘A fascinating anthology that highlights the human spirit in the face of unimaginable horror. No serious student of the Holocaust will want to be without this book.’ Adam Gorb, composer -- .


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