Yom HaShoah 2025

"How Saba Kept Singing" shares the story of Cantor, Holocaust Survivor, Military Veteran, David S. Wisnia (93), who spends his later years travelling with his grandson and musical accompanist, Avi Wisnia, sharing the story of how he survived the Holocaust through music which the duo perform together. 

For years, Cantor Wisnia's story centered around the belief that he survived Auschwitz mainly by using his beautiful singing voice to entertain his Nazi captors. These performances in the death camp gave him status as a "privileged prisoner". However, when David takes his family back to Poland for once last performance, Avi starts asking questions and they discover that someone else had a hand in Saba's survival. 

Avi Wisnia is an award-winning singer, songwriter, storyteller, and educator based in Philedelphia. He performs in venues around the world including the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York and the Kennedy Center in DC, with concert tours in Japan, Poland, and Brazil. Avi Wisnia most recently realised his latest album of original jazz/pop compositions, titled "Catching Leaves". He has also given a TED talk and performed with The Moth storytellers. In recent years, Avi travelled and performed with this grandfather, Holocaust survivor Cantor David S. Wisnia. 

Since his grandfather's passing, Avi Wisnia continues to share his grandfather's stories and songs of survival, tracing David's harrowing life journey from young Polish singing star to Auschwitz prisoner to American liberator with the 101st Airborne. Through it all, Cantor Wisnia's remarkable singing voice helped to save his life, especially in the notorious Nazi concentration camp. The Wisnias most recently travelled together to Poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Through sharing his grandfather's story, Avi highlights the urgency of keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive and passing on this legacy from generation to generation.