Patrick Comerford
The Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) commemorations next week mark Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 and the end of all German military operations. Yom haShoah, the Jewish world’s annual day of remembrance of the Holocaust, was marked last week (24 April 2025). Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of Ravenruck (30 April 1945), and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen was marked two weks earlier (15 April 1945).
This weekend also marks the liberation of the concentration camps at Mauthausen and Gusen. The last members of the SS fled the camps on 3 May 1945, and a US Army reconnaissance unit arrived in Gusen and Mauthausen on 5 May. On the following day, the US army finally liberated around 40,000 prisoners in the camps. In both camps they found the bodies of hundreds of detainees who had died in the days before liberation.
Mauthausen was the last of the concentration camps to be liberated at the end of the Holocaust. Mauthausen-Gusen was about 20 km east of Linz in Upper Austria. Unlike Auschwitz, it was not an extermination camp, but countless people were murdered and died there in horrific circumstances. There the Nazis forced their victims to work in a stone quarry, hauling large pieces of rock and stone up the ‘Stairs of Death’ along steep and uneven ramps.
The Jewish prisoners there included Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005), who is remembered for his tireless efforts to bring those responsible for the Holocaust to justice. He survived the Lwów ghetto, concentration camps in Janowska (1941-1944), Kraków-Płaszów (1944) and Gross-Rosen, a death march to Chemnitz, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Mauthausen (1945).
After World War II, Wiesenthal dedicated his life to tracking down and gathering information on fugitive Nazi war criminals so that they could be brought to trial. He played a role in capturing Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires in 1960. He died in Vienna at the age of 96 on 20 September 2005.
Other prisoners or detainees in Mauthausen included Jehovah’s Witnesses, Romanies and Spanish republicans. Between 240,000 and 320,000 people, including Jews, intellectuals, and people classified as political ‘undesirables,’ were murdered in Mauthausen.
Over the past week, I have been listening once again to the words and the music of The Ballad of Mauthausen, a cantata written by Iakovos Kambanellis and Mikis Theodorakis 60 years ago in 1965, 20 years after the end of World War II.
The Ballad of Mauthausen (Η Μπαλάντα του Μαουτχάουζεν) is based on the experiences of the Greek playwright Iakovos Kambanellis (Ιάκωβος Καμπανέλλης, 1922-2011), who wrote four poems that Mikis Theodorakis (Μίκης Θεοδωράκης) set to music.
Kambanellis was a poet, playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, and novelist, best known as a screenwriter for films, including Stella (1955), directed by Michael Cacoyannis. It was first written the script as a play, Stella With the Red Gloves, based on Carmen, but was never produced on the Greek stage because of its sexual frankness. The film, shot in the streets of Athens, follows a singer (Melina Mercouri) who refuses to marry her lover and begins a passionate affair with a football player. The film made a star of Melina Mercouri and boosted Greek cinema’s international reputation.
Kambanellis was born on 2 December 1922 in Hora on the island of Naxos. He was forced to leave school at an early age and to find work after the family moved to Athens, but he continued his studies at an evening technical school. He was arrested in 1942 after attempting to flee Nazi-occupied Greece, and was sent to Mauthausen in Austria, where he spent the rest of World War II.
Kambanellis owed his survival in Mauthausen to the protection of a philhellenic German prisoner who assigned him to the architectural drafting office, where additions to the camp were designed.
Mauthausen was the last of the concentration camps to be liberated in May 1945. Kambanellis was not a Jew, and he was free to return with the other Greek prisoners to Greece. But knowing there were Greek Jews who dreamed of reaching Palestine, he elected to stay on in the camp until the last Greek Jew left.
Interviewed later in life, he said: ‘I don’t want to make myself into a hero. What could I do? I saw the eyes of the sick, of the weak, of the abandoned; could I have said okay, fine, I’m leaving now? I was their friend.” He admitted he was deeply envious of them “because we all went back to an old world and we were scared of it. We couldn’t, after those three years, go back to the world of the past, of before the war. And they went to a new, virgin, country and started a new world in Palestine.’
On his return to Greece, Kambanellis began writing a newspaper column in Athens before turning to the theatre and film.
A recurring feature of his work is the use of multiple, often unexpected voices. He attributed this to the years he spent in Mauthausen, listening to the voices of nameless sufferers. His success as a writer seemed miraculous to him and perhaps contributed to his unique blend of realism and mysticism.
His most successful play, Our Grand Circus, was staged in 1973 at the height of the colonels’ dictatorship in Greece. Weaving history, myth, and the traditional shadow puppet theatre with folk motifs, the play ridicules the heroic view of Greek history favoured by the colonels, rewriting Greek history from a left-wing perspective.
By calling the performances a circus and transforming his bleak view of the regime and of Greek history into a series of amusing vignettes, he escaped the strict censorship of the time. Our Grand Circus broke all box-office records and made Kambanellis a popular symbol of resistance.
He wrote the scripts for about a dozen films and directed two of them. He died in Athens on 29 March 2011. He is regarded by many as the greatest Greek playwright of the 20th century.
Mauthausen, his only novel, is a memoir recalling his experiences in the concentration camp. It was first published 60 years ago in Athens in 1965 and has been translated into English and German. At the same time, he wrote the Mauthausen cantata with a setting by his close friend Mikis Theodorakis, when his publisher suggested that they publish their works together.
The book and the music were born in an incendiary political and cultural milieu in Greece. Two days after its first performance, all music by Theodorakis was banned from Greek state radio. Within two years, the military had seized power and the colonels silenced Theodorakis and many other voices for seven long years.
Kambanellis was inspired by a photograph of an unknown girl which he found in the camp and which he kept with him.
The memoir begins in the camp and the neighbouring villages in the weeks immediately after their liberation. The horrors the inmates have seen and have suffered are recalled by the author and the woman he falls in love with, a Lithuanian Jew, in merciless detail as the lovers exorcise their demons by revisiting the sites of the atrocities they witnessed. When the inmates are gradually repatriated, many of the Jews there wait to find a way to get to Palestine.
The best-known song of all, performed by Maria Farantouri, is the first song, Άσμα Ασμάτων (Asma Asmaton, ‘Song of Songs’), which opens with the words:
Τι ωραία που είν’ η αγάπη μου
με το καθημερνό της φόρεμα
κι ένα χτενάκι στα μαλλιά.
Κανείς δεν ήξερε πως είναι τόσο ωραία.
‘My love, how beautiful she is in her everyday dress’.
This first song recalls the poignant questioning of a man who describes how beautiful his beloved is and asks the other inmates if they have seen her. They tell him they have seen her on a long march, standing on large square with a number on her arm and a yellow star on her heart. Maria Farantouri hauntingly sings the repeated line: ‘No-one knows how beautiful my beloved was.’<’br />
This song maintains the poetic structure of the Biblical Song of Songs, until the chilling line, coming as if in response to ‘have you seen him whom my soul loves,’ echoes with the question: ‘Young girls of Mauthausen, Young girls of Belsen, Have you seen my love?’ and the answer ‘We saw her in the frozen square, A number in her white hand And a yellow star on her heart.’
The second song, O Αντώνης (O Antonis, ‘Adonis’) is also known from the score of the film Z. This song tells the story of a Jew who collapses on the ‘Stairs of Death’ at the base of the quarry and is shot by the guard who then orders the Greek prisoner Antonis to lift a double burden or he too will be shot.
Antonis lifts this second rock and defiantly walks on with it. In this song we also hear the stairs being depicted in the introduction to every couplet.
The third song, Ο Δραπέτης (O Drapetis, The Fugitive), is the story of a prisoner who escapes the camp but cannot find refuge in the hostile surroundings. He is captured again and is shot.
The introduction to this song depicts the landscape of Austria with a Mozart-like melody.
In the last song, Όταν τελειώσει Ο Πόλεμος (Otan Teliossi O Polemos, When the War Ends), the poet addresses one of the girls he sees standing by the fence of the female camp and asks whether they can come together when the war is finally over, kiss at the gate, make love in the quarry and in the gas chamber until the shadow of death is driven away.
The song ends with an epilogue, returning to the first song and ending with the plaintive words that no-one knows how beautiful my beloved was.
The instrumentation includes bouzoukis, spinet, electric guitar, baglamas, flute, bass and percussion, all helping to create a desolate yet beautiful atmosphere.
Greek popular music in the 1960s became known all over the world thanks to the scores by two composers in particular, Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis, for two popular movies, Never on Sunday and Zorba the Greek. Both worked in the laika tradition of Greek popular music influenced by European melodic form. Each had his own muse or angel in a female singer who interpreted his music – for Hadjidakis she was Nana Mouskouri, for Theodorakis she was Maria Farandouri.
The recording of The Ballad of Mauthausen marked the beginning of one of the most fruitful collaborations in Greek music. Mikis Theodorakis discovered the singer Maria Farantouri when she was a 16-year-old young singer. He is said to have told her at the time: ‘You will be my high priestess.’ Her unique dramatic voice and style complements his music, and it is so productive a partnership that it has lasted for half a century.
Listening to The Ballad of Mauthausen, it is difficult to grasp that this is the voice of a teenager who has just left school, for she sings with a raw force and energy that reaches into the heart and soul with intensity.
Farandouri and Theodorakis had a life-long musical collaboration, intensified by their shared political activism. This album is both a classic and the high point of that collaboration.
Farandouri’s voice is a marvel of depth and beauty, and the songs are among the best by Theodorakis. The power and majesty of his music combined and the soaring beauty of her voice make The Ballad of Mauthausen a profound testament to the power of human resistance to tyranny and oppression.
The most accessible recording by Maria Farantouri (Μαρία Φαραντούρη) is complemented by a cycle of six songs for Farantouri, named ‘Farantouri’s Cycle’:
5, Κουράστηκα να σε κρατώ (Kourastika na se Krato, ‘I Am Tired of Holding Your Hand’).
6, Ο ίσκιος έπεσε βαρύς (O Iskios Epesse Varis, ‘The Shadow is so heavy’).
7, Πήρα τους δρόμους τ' ουρανού (Tous Thromous T’Ouranou, ‘I Took to the Streets of Heaven’).
8, Στου κόσμου την ανηφοριά (Stou Kosmou Tin Aniforya, ‘The Uphill Road’).
9, Το Εκκρεμές (To Ekremes, ‘The Pendulum’).
10, Τ' όνειρο καπνός (Tóniro Kapnos, ‘Dreams Go up in Smoke’).
The Ballad of Mauthausen is a difficult poem to read and a difficult cantata to listen to, and yet is compelling.
It is difficult to realise how a poet could be inspired to write about love in the all-encompassing atmosphere of evil and death in a concentration camp.
Yet this is the dream of love, and love is the way a great soul not only survives such terror, but finds meaning and triumphs over it.
Άσμα Ασμάτων
Τι ωραία που είν’ η αγάπη μου
με το καθημερνό της φόρεμα
κι ένα χτενάκι στα μαλλιά.
Κανείς δεν ήξερε πως είναι τόσο ωραία.
Κοπέλες του Άουσβιτς,
του Νταχάου κοπέλες,
μην είδατε την αγάπη μου;
Την είδαμε σε μακρινό ταξίδι,
δεν είχε πια το φόρεμά της
ούτε χτενάκι στα μαλλιά.
Τι ωραία που είν’ η αγάπη μου,
η χαϊδεμένη από τη μάνα της
και τ’ αδελφού της τα φιλιά.
Κανείς δεν ήξερε πως είναι τόσο ωραία.
Κοπέλες του Μαουτχάουζεν,
κοπέλες του Μπέλσεν,
μην είδατε την αγάπη μου;
Την είδαμε στην παγερή πλατεία
μ’ ένα αριθμό στο άσπρο της το χέρι,
με κίτρινο άστρο στην καρδιά.
Τι ωραία που είν’ η αγάπη μου,
η χαϊδεμένη από τη μάνα της
και τ’ αδελφού της τα φιλιά.
Κανείς δεν ήξερε πως είναι τόσο ωραία.
Ο Αντώνης
Εκεί στη σκάλα την πλατιά
στη σκάλα των δακρύων
στο Βίνερ Γκράμπεν το βαθύ
το λατομείο των θρήνων
Εβραίοι κι αντάρτες περπατούν
Εβραίοι κι αντάρτες πέφτουν,
βράχο στη ράχη κουβαλούν
βράχο σταυρό θανάτου.
Εκεί ο Αντώνης τη φωνή
φωνή, φωνή ακούει
ω καμαράντ, ω καμαράντ
βόηθα ν’ ανέβω τη σκάλα.
Μα κει στη σκάλα την πλατιά
και των δακρύων τη σκάλα
τέτοια βοήθεια είναι βρισιά
τέτοια σπλαχνιά είν’ κατάρα.
Ο Εβραίος πέφτει στο σκαλί
και κοκκινίζει η σκάλα
κι εσύ λεβέντη μου έλα εδω
βράχο διπλό κουβάλα.
Παίρνω διπλό, παίρνω τριπλό
μένα με λένε Αντώνη
κι αν είσαι άντρας, έλα εδώ
στο μαρμαρένιο αλώνι.
Ο Δραπέτης
Ο Γιάννος Μπερ απ’ το βοριά
το σύρμα δεν αντέχει.
Κάνει καρδιά, κάνει φτερά,
μες στα χωριά του κάμπου τρέχει.
«Δώσε, κυρά, λίγο ψωμί
και ρούχα για ν’ αλλάξω.
Δρόμο να κάνω έχω μακρύ,
πάν’ από λίμνες να πετάξω.»
Όπου διαβεί κι όπου σταθεί
φόβος και τρόμος πέφτει.
Και μια φωνή, φριχτή φωνή
«κρυφτείτε απ’ τον δραπέτη.»
«Φονιάς δεν είμαι, χριστιανοί,
θεριό για να σας φάω.
Έφυγα από τη φυλακή
στο σπίτι μου να πάω.»
Α, τι θανάσιμη ερημιά
στου Μπέρτολτ Μπρεχτ τη χώρα.
Δίνουν το Γιάννο στους Ες Ες,
για σκότωμα τον πάνε τώρα.
Όταν τελειώσει Ο Πόλεμος
Κορίτσι με τα φοβισμένα μάτια
κορίτσι με τα παγωμένα χέρια,
άμα τελειώσει ο πόλεμος
μη με ξεχάσεις.
Χαρά του κόσμου, έλα στην πύλη
να φιληθούμε μες στο δρόμο
ν’ αγκαλιαστούμε στην πλατεία.
Κορίτσι με τα φοβισμένα μάτια
κορίτσι με τα παγωμένα χέρια,
άμα τελειώσει ο πόλεμος
μη με ξεχάσεις.
Στο λατομείο ν’ αγαπηθούμε
στις κάμαρες των αερίων
στη σκάλα, στα πολυβολεία.
Κορίτσι με τα φοβισμένα μάτια
κορίτσι με τα παγωμένα χέρια,
άμα τελειώσει ο πόλεμος
μη με ξεχάσεις.
Έρωτα μες στο μεσημέρι
σ’ όλα τα μέρη του θανάτου
ώσπου ν’ αφανιστεί η σκιά του.
Κορίτσι με τα φοβισμένα μάτια
κορίτσι με τα παγωμένα χέρια,
άμα τελειώσει ο πόλεμος
μη με ξεχάσεις.
The Song of Songs
How beautiful she is, my love
in her everyday dress
and the little comb on her hair
Nobody ever knew that she is so beautiful
Girls of Auschwitz
Dachau’s girls
have you seen by chance my love?
We saw her leaving on a long voyage
she was no longer wearing her dress
nor a little comb on her hair.
How beautiful she is, my love
the one pampered by her mother
and her brother’s kisses
Nobody ever knew that she is so beautiful
Girls of Auschwitz
Dachau’s girls
have you seen by chance my love?
We saw her in the frigid town square
with a number stamped on her white hand
with a yellow star pinned by her heart
How beautiful she is, my love
the one pampered by her mother
and her brother’s kisses
Nobody ever knew that she is so beautiful
Adonis
There on the wide staircase
the staircase of tears
in Wiener Graben’s deep stone-
quarry of cries and lamentation
Jews and partisans stroll by
Jews and partisans fall down
a rock they carry on their back
a rock a burden cross of death
There comes Adonis and a voice
a voice, a voice he hears
oh comrade, oh comrade,
help me to climb these stairs
But there on the wide staircase
that staircase of tears
such help is taken as insult
such a compassion is a curse
The Jewish man falls on the step
and red bleeds through the staircase
and you young lad come over here
a double rock you’ll carry
A double rock I’ll take, a triple
my name, they call me Adonis
come and meet me if you are a man
at the marble threshing circle.
The Fugitive
Janos Ber from the North
can’t stand the barbed wire.
He takes heart, takes wing
runs through the villages of the valley.
Ma’am, give me a piece of bread
and clothes to change into –
I have a long way to go
and lakes to fly across.
Wherever he goes or stops
fear and terror strike
and a cry, a terrible cry:
Hide from the fugitive!
Christians, I’m no murderer,
no beast come to eat you.
I left the prison
to go back to my home.
Ah, what deathly loneliness
in this land of Berthold Brecht!
They hand Janos over to the SS
They’re taking him, now, to be killed.
When the War is Over
Girl with the weeping eyes,
Girl with the frozen hands.
Forget me not when the war is over.
Joy of the world. come to the gate
So that we could embrace in the street.
So that we could kiss in the square.
So that we could make love in the quarry.
In the gas chambers,
On the staircase, in the observation post.
Love in the middle of noon
In all the corners of death
’Til its shadow will be no more.
Girl with the weeping eyes,
Girl with the frozen hands.
Forget me not when the war is over.
• Maria Farantouri, who is on a tour marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Mikis Theodorakis, is taking part in a concert in Schauspielhaus in Bochum, Germany next Friday (9 May 2025). The programme that includes ‘The Ballad of Mauthausen’, other songs, readings and a talk. The concert marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and she is accompanied by the pianist Henning Schmiedt.
Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום
