New Choral Work: MY RED BOOTS

MY RED BOOTS is based on one of only several poems written by my mother, Jewish Holocaust survivor Rita Hoffman of blessed memory (1927–2018). Both she and my late father, Josef Hoffman, were Jewish Holocaust Survivors. My mother’s brief memoirs are housed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.

I have been trying to hear music for MY RED BOOTS for decades. It is fitting that my muse cooperated with me when I was seeking a text to set to music for the Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir’s 2024 call for scores, because global anti-Semitism has not been this rampant since the 1930s.

My Red Boots

My red boots and ruby earrings were snatched away; they were so dear to me.

My youth and family, too, were snatched away in the same way. 

I’ll never forget that day.

I’m told now to put it out of my mind.

I find that task very hard.

I can still hear the dogs howling,

the Gestapo rounding us up for apel,*

those dreadful words, “Mach schnell!”**

How can I not remember when my loved ones perished for no reason?

Babies were taken from their mother’s arms! 

Heaven and earth should have shaken from their cries and have been heard afar.

Yet the world stood still. 

Not a word was spoken to try to help us. 

I can’t forget the helplessness that we endured. 

Listen! 

Maybe you will hear them, too. 

If we do this, we can keep evil from happening again, and again, and again!

—Rita Hoffman (1927–2018)

* Romanian for “call” (roll call).

** German for “make haste!”

Words: © Copyright 1989 by The Estate of Rita Hoffman.

All rights reserved.  Used by permission.

Music: © Copyright 2024 by Stanley M. Hoffman.  www.stanleymhoffman.com  All rights reserved.

NotePerformer 4 audio and scrolling score video seeking live performances.

The sheet music is available from the composer and from Sheet Music Plus.