Greta Klingsberg, geb. Grete Hofmeister

1929 Wien - 2022 Jerusalem
Greta Klingsberg, born Septrmber 11, 1929 as Grete Hofmeister in Vienna, dies August 30, 2022 in Jerusalem, singer, translator, former employee of Kol Israel (Israel Radio). 1938 Exile to Czechoslowakia. While her parents left with an illegal ship to Palestine, Greta and her little sister Trude (photo r.) were 'temporarily' left behind in a childrens' home in Brno, in order to avoid risks - children were not allowed on this ship - and get them an offical immigration certificate to Palestine. When in March 1939 the Germans occupied Czechoslowakia, everything had changed; the parents were not able to get them out of the country anymore, the childrens' home was closed and the children were transferred to a Jewish orphanage. In 1942 Grete and Trude, together with all the children of the orphanage were deported to concentration camp Terezín. There Greta performed the leading girls' part 'Aninká' in Hans Krása's childrens' opera 'Brundibár 'over 50 times. In 1944 she was deported with most children and musicians to Auschwitz, were Greta's sister was murdered. Greta was sent to Oederan where she was deployed in slave labour until the end of the war, when she was transferred to Terezín once again. In 1946 she left Europe from Prague to Palestine, where she enrolled in singing courses at the Palestine Conservatoire Jerusalem. Next to her day jobs - first as a nanny, later on with Kol Israel - , Greta as a member of professional choirs in Israel participated in many premieres (e.g. 'Kaddish' by Leonard Bernstein) and acted as soloist, like in 'David' by Darius Milhaud). She has made several CD-recordings and translated the libretto of 'Brundibár' into Hebrew. Greta Klingsberg is living in Jerusalem, (when not travelling around the world as a much sought-after contemporary witness). Lately she has appeared in two films: 'Mut zum Leben (D 2013, Dir.: Christa Spannbauer, Thomas Gonschior) and 'Wiedersehen mit Brundibár' (D 2014, Dir. Douglas Wolfsperger). October 1, 2015 she has been awarded the honorary membership of the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Exilforschung (Austrian Society for Exile Research). Update Primavera Driessen Gruber September 15, 2022