Lin Jaldati

Eberhard Rebling and Lin Jaldati (Photo: Peter Himsel, Berlin)

Eberhard Rebling moved to the Netherlands in 1936, because he no longer wanted to live in Nazi Germany. He was 25 years old, a pianist and a musicologist. In The Hague he met Rebekka Brilleslijper. Rebekka was Jewish, Eberhard was not. Her stage name was Lin Jaldati. She sang Yiddish songs and collected money for refugees from Nazi Germany. They staged their first performance together in 1938. After the Netherlands had been occupied by the German army in May 1940 they were forbidden to go on stage together.

Their daughter Kathinka was born in 1941. Life in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation was dangerous for them. Eberhard and Lin became involved with the artists’ resistance movement. When Eberhard was called up for the Wehrmacht, they went into hiding, together with Lin’s sister Jannie and their parents. Eberhard remained active in the resistance movement. He took Jewish children to safe houses and together they gave illegal home concerts. He risked his life: if he got caught, he would be shot.

The group in hiding were betrayed and on July 10, 1944 they were arrested. Lin, her sister and their parents were deported to Westerbork. Eberhard was sentenced to death. With Jannie’s help he managed to escape. As they were taking him somewhere else, he jumped out of the police car. He immediately went into hiding again. Their daughter escaped arrest. A woman from the underground had already taken her to a safe house.

Eberhard Rebling remained in hiding until the liberation. Shortly after the liberation he received the first news that Lin was alive. Like her sister Jannie, she had survived the camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Their daughter Kathinka had also survived the war.

Lin Jaldati was sent to concentration camps when the Nazis occupied Holland. She didn't speak Yiddish, but learned Yiddish songs from her fellow prisoners. Jaldati survived Auschwitz; being a communist, she came to East Germany to help establish a socialist German state. She married Eberhard Rebling, a German Gentile communist who later became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and started to perform Yiddish songs for a German audience with Rebling accompanying her on piano. Later they were joined by their daughters Katinka and Jalda. Lin Jaldati dedicated her art and her life to communist East Germany. This didn't prevent her from being banned from performing in the late sixties; the hysteria had gone so far that even performing Yiddish songs was interpreted as a pro-Israel statement. For a long time Lin Jaldati, who was highly accepted by what later became the East German Yiddish and klezmer scene, was the only Yiddish performer in East Germany.

In the GDR there was no connection to the world centers of Yiddish culture. Israel was seen as an aggressor and song collections, for example from New York, were exchanged among friends but could not be found in any libraries. There were a few recordings by the Leipziger Synagogue choir, mainly religious songs, symphonically arranged. And the well known singer Lin Jaldati: she had survived Auschwitz. Occasionally, official politics made use of her good name. In 1966, she was allowed to release her interpretations of Yiddish resistance and folk songs on one side of a record, and in 1982 an entire record was released.

Jiddische Lieder 1987	Hobn mir a nigndl Huljet, Huljet A Semerl Motele Di mamme is geform Jorne, jorne Macheteniste majne Is gekumen der fetr Nusn Masltow A dudele 'S brent Shir haShirim Wos wet sain as Meschiach wet kumen? Scha, schtil As der Rebbe Elimelech Schabbes, Schabbes Hobn mir a nigndl This is a concert recording from 1987, July 3, in Cologne, West Germany. Lin Jaldati performs both traditional and composed Yiddish songs, accompanied by her husband Eberhard Rebling on piano and by their daughters Kathinka Rebling on violin and Jalda Rebling, vocals. Lin Jaldati was sent to concentration camps when the Nazis occupied Holland. She didn't speak Yiddish, but learned Yiddish songs from her fellow prisoners. Jaldati survived Auschwitz; being a communist, she came to East Germany to help establish a socialist German state. She married Eberhard Rebling, a German communist who later became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and started to perform Yiddish songs for a German audience with Rebling accompanying her on piano. Later they were joined by their daughters Katinka and Jalda. Lin Jaldati dedicated her art and her life to communist East Germany. This didn't prevent her from being banned from performing in the late sixties; the hysteria had gone so far that even performing Yiddish songs was interpreted as a pro-Israel statement. For a long time Lin Jaldati, who was highly accepted by what later became the East German Yiddish and klezmer scene, was the only Yiddish performer in East Germany.

Lin Jaldati Singt Eterna 810 024 LP 1966

Yiddische Lieder Amiga 8 45 198 LP 1982	As der Rebe Elimelech Dem Milners Trern Nisim fun Rabejim Hungerik Dajn Ketsele Rabojsaj Schwartse Karschelech In Kamf Jome, Jome Schustersche Wajbelech Ojfn Bojdem Tsip Tsapekl A Semerl Dort bajm Breg fun Weldl S' brent

Yiddish Lieder CD Orchestra Martin Hoffmann, cond. BarbaRossa 74321 46836-2 0 1997	As der rebe elimelech (When the Rabbi Elimelech) 2:44 Dem milners trern (The Miller’s Tears) 2:48 Nisim fun rabejim (Rabbinical Miracles) 3:09 Hungerik dajn ketsele (Your Kitten Is Hungry) 2:50 Rabojsaj 3:14 Schwartse karschelech (Black Cherries) 2:09 Jome, Jome 2:00 Ojfn bojdem (On the Floor) 2:17 Schustersche wajbelech (Shoemakers’ Wives) 2:57 Tsip tsapekl 1:41 A semerl (A Little Song) 3:00 Dort bajm breg fun weldl (There on the Edge of the Forest) 3:16 S' brent (Fire!) 2:54 In Kampf (For the Fight) 1:49 Hej zigelech (Hey, Little Goat) 1:58 Motele 3:35 Berjoskele (Little Birch Tree) 2:46 Der balagole un sajn ferdl (The Old Coachman and His Horse) 2:23 Amol is gewen a jidele (There Once Was a Jidele) 1:40 Sog nischt kejnmol (Never Say) 2:15

Vocal growth and change are fascinating to observe, aurally, in the latest Barbarossa CD from Berlin entitled "Lin Jaldati : Jiddische Lieder." The first 14 selections, released originally on LP in 1982 with orchestra conducted by Martin Hoffmann, catch her in the last decade of her career. She can be heard intoning, speaking, shouting, and occasionally approximating notes amid the mostly world-weary singing. Unlike the LP, though, the new CD also contains 6 much fresher and more vocally secure renditions of numbers accompanied at the piano by her husband Eberhard Rebling, recorded in 1964. Of these, "The Old Coachman [Balagole] and His Horse" is the most delightful; the finale "Sog nischt Kejnmol" most stirring. Juedisch-Liturgische Gesaenge aus Berlin [original subhead: Raymond Wolff]

Rejsele Eberhard Rebling, piano SwissPan 51703 CD 2004	A nigndl (Nochem Sternberg, 1872-1942 A semerl Scheyn bin ich, scheyn Motele (Mordechai Gebirtig) Her nor de scheyn meydele Dos alte porfolk (Mordechai Gebirtig) Di mame is gegangen Rejsele (Mordechai Gebirtig) Yomme, Yomme Macheteyneste mayne / Is gekumen der feter Nush Chosn-kale masl tov Rojs, Rojs A barg schich ; Moische Schulstein Hebräische Melodie (Joseph Achron, 1886-1943) S' Brent (Mordechai Gebirtig) Nigun - Lied des Widerstand As M'schiach wet kumen Scha, schtil Dos pintele Homentaschn Der Balegole un sayn ferdl Wi asoy trunkt der kayser tey? Schabbes, Schabbes

Eberhard Rebling, piano Hastedt 0691230 5332-2 4 2008	Lieder in jiddischer Sprache S' brent! / Es brennt! Sog nischt kejnmol / Sage nie Dort bajm breg fun weldl / Am Waldesrand Brider, mir hobn geschlosn / Brüder, wir haben beschlossen A semerl / Ein Liedchen (über Brot, Fleisch, Fisch+Nachspeise) Wer der erschter wet lachn / Wer als erster lachen wird Rabojssaj / Ihr Weisen Mir schpanen zu bessern morgen / Wir schreiten in ein besseres Morgen Arbetslosemarsch S' dremlen fejgl ojf di zwajgn / Vögel träumen auf den Zweigen Jisrolek, des kind fun Ghetto Amol is gewen a majsse / Es war einmal ein Märchen Draj Jingerlech / Drei Jüngelchen Tsip Tsapkl (Das Klatschweib) 15 Motele Vorspruch zu Schwarze Karschelech Schwarze Karschelech / Schwarze Kirschen Lieder von Louis Fürnberg Vom Hinterhaus (1937) Courths-Mahleriana - satirisches Märchenlied (1934) Das Lied von der Einheit (1936) Wenn die Lichter wieder brennen (1945/51) Ein alt-neues Weihnachtslied (1937) Spanisches Wiegenlied (1936) Die Mausemutter (1940/41) Song von den Träumern (1937) Auf Wiedersehn (1953) Hanns Eisler - Vier Wiegenlieder für Arbeitermütter / Bertolt Brecht (1932): Als ich dich in meinem Leib trug Als ich dich gebar Ich hab dich ausgetragen Mein Sohn, was immer auch aus dir werde S' brent! / Es brennt! (Live-Mitschnitt vom 18.02.1983)