Never Give Up: The 20th Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper

Composer, conductor, educator, survivor--the life of Herbert Zipper, chronicled in Terry Sanders' Oscar-nominated documentary, has been wonderful, terrible, and, above all, incredible. A Vienna-born music aficionado, Zipper went to Dusseldorf, Germany in 1932 where he enjoyed a rising career as a conductor until he was transported to Dachau, following Hitler's rise to power in the late 1930s. In Dachau, he was greeted by the camp commandant thus: "in Dachau, everything is prohibited...even life." Undeterred, Zipper helped form a ragtag orchestra, playing makeshift instruments, and gave concerts during afternoons and Sundays, because he fervently believed in the healing and ennobling power of music. Zipper was later freed in 1939 and took a post as director of the Manila Symphony; he was imprisoned by the Japanese following the invasion of the Philippines as the war entered its Pacific phase. Coming to America after his release, Zipper headed up the Brooklyn Symphony, which he took into neighboring schools--a pattern that he would follow throughout his career in Chicago and Los Angeles. Although the film of Zipper's life is not really exceptional, the story is extraordinary (an international teacher, who also works with Chinese orchestras, Zipper would watch helplessly from his hotel window at the bloodbath below in the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989). It is almost impossible to envision the strength of character that has not only survived these ordeals and sights, but also maintained a spirit of optimism and hope about the basic goodness inherent in the human race. Highly recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)