This CD commemorates four German composers who had to flee Germany during the Nazi era because they were Jewish: Paul Ben-Haim, Paul Dessau, Kurt Weill and Stefan Wolpe. Transylvanian-born Alexander U. Boskovich, who was also forced in 1938 to flee his homeland because he was Jewish, has been included in this programme because of his significance.

The songs written by these composers in exile have so far largely remained unknown. The texts they were set to are to a great extent taken from the works of Hebrew poets and are presented here for the first time in German translation by Dagmar Nick. The evocative and sometimes shocking lyrics that seem so prescient even today range from the 7th century BC to the present day, from the prophet Isaiah through Chajim Bialik, Schalom Asch and Erich Kästner to the words of warning from Albert Einstein regarding the H-bomb.