Various Vorbei... Beyound Recall (Buch) - Hier wirbt der Jüdische Kulturbund!

(Bear Family Records) hardcover book German and English, 518 pages; 30 x 30 cm; rare photographs;
A documentation of Jewish musical life in Berlin, 1933–1938
Horst J. P. Bergmeier, Ejal Jakob Eisler, Rainer E. Lotz. Rabbi Andreas Nachama und Rabbi David Sandor Polnauer

The large-format hardcover companion book included in the deluxe edition of Beyond Recall is far more than a standard booklet — it is a meticulously researched document of Jewish musical, cultural, and social history. Across more than 500 richly illustrated pages, the publication reconstructs the nearly erased soundscape of Jewish artists in Berlin between 1930 and 1938, immediately before their systematic pesecution, exile, and murder under the Nazi regime.

The texts were written by internationally respected researchers and historians, including biographer Horst J. P. Bergmeier, historian Ejal Jakob Eisler, and discographer Rainer E. Lotz. Additional contributions include a foreword by Rabbi Andreas Nachama, an introduction to Jewish liturgical traditions by Rabbi David Sandor Polnauer, and technical notes on the complex restoration of historical recordings by Robert M. Laue.

The book combines historical analysis, discography, biography, and visual documentation into an exceptional overview of Jewish cultural life in National Socialist Germany. Numerous photographs, original record labels, concert programs, advertisements, and archival documents illustrate the remarkable diversity of the era — ranging from synagogue music and klezmer to cabaret, operetta, popular entertainment music, and early sound film productions.

Particularly impressive is the editorial precision of the project. Many of the featured artists and recordings had long been considered lost or forgotten. The book restores historical context, corrects longstanding inaccuracies, and provides an essential scholarly foundation for future research. As a result, Beyond Recall is not merely a collector’s edition but a major contribution to European remembrance culture.

Together with the carefully restored recordings, the book creates a moving and often unsettling panorama of a cultural world on the brink of destruction. It does not merely archive music history — it preserves voices, identities, and memories that the Nazi regime sought to erase forever.