The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, which lasted from April 19 until May 16, was the single largest revolt by Jewish people during World War II. In marking its 80th anniversary, guests of the Jewish Community of Japan in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward were treated to a piano performance from Holocaust survivor Janos Cegledy.

The event was held by the nonprofit organization Kokoro (also known as the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center) with help from the Embassy of Israel and the Polish Institute in Tokyo. In addition to speeches from the Israeli, Polish and German ambassadors to Japan, POLIN (Museum of the History of Polish Jews) guide and chief education specialist Mariusz Jastrzab joined online to educate those gathered on what was a true moment of bravery in the Warsaw Ghetto. The audience was visibly moved by Cegledy’s performance.

Born in Hungary in 1937, Cegledy grew up in Nazi-controlled Budapest with his brother. His parents, who were sent to the Mauthausen and Lichtenworth concentration camps, also survived the war. Afterward, the family moved to New Zealand, where Cegledy was educated in music, before heading to West Germany to continue his studies. Since 1967, he has lived in Japan and has taught at Toho College of Music and Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo, while also performing internationally.

“I was moved that we had a commemorative event jointly in the home of the Jewish Community of Japan,” the 85-year-old Cegledy says. “Although I used to concentrate on music, now I believe that it’s important to speak to the young generation about my experiences.”

The event was attended by 90 people, with 145 more joining online. In the front rows, 18 Japanese high school students from the Tokyo Jogakkan Schools for Women, which has participated in Kokoro’s educational programs since 2017, listened carefully as Cegledy played three pieces.

Cegledy delivered a soulful performance, imbued with his own feelings toward the historic revolt in which Warsaw Ghetto residents resisted Nazi efforts to transport the remaining population to the Majdanek and Treblinka concentration camps. Their acts of resistance lasted for 27 days but, in the end, the area was razed by the Germans and countless lives were lost.

The pianist opened with what was one of the most memorable moments of the event: the Yiddish song “Es brent.” According to Cegledy, the poem that accompanies the music reads, “Our village is burning, let’s put out the fire, even if we use our own blood.” The composition is believed to have been written in response to a devastating pogrom during which a village with a substantial Jewish population was burned down.

“The Warsaw Ghetto was also burned and leveled to the ground,” Cegeledy says. “Sadly, there were many pogroms against Jews in many different countries and sadly also against other minorities.”

Cegledy followed the Yiddish song with one of his own compositions, “Evocation #2,” which was published in Japan in 1987. The repressive, dark quality of that piece reflected the somber mood of the commemoration event.

“The inspiration comes purely from abstract musical ideas. Nevertheless, the completed piece expresses distinctive emotions when I perform,” he says.

Finally, Cegledy closed his performance with Polish composer Frederic Chopin’s mournful Polonaise in C minor Op. 40 No. 2 as a tribute to Poland.

“Although the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was primarily a heroic and desperate Jewish battle against overwhelming Nazi forces, I am glad that present-day Poland recognizes those brave Jews as Polish citizens,” Cegledy says.

For more information about Kokoro, visit npokokoro.com/english. For further details on Janos Cegledy, visit janos-cegledy.jimdosite.com.