Music can be a very effective and powerful form of therapy. The beauty in a piece of music can fill one with raw emotions rarely felt by other art forms. The documentary Defiant Requiem explores the use of music and its meaningful purpose in a time where hope ran low and survival was everyone’s main objective: the Holocaust.

Defiant Requiem details the events at Terezin, a concentration camp in Praque where many unfortunate Jewish prisoners were kept. Rafael Schächter was one such individual, a Czech opera-coral conductor who was held there, mistreated and abused like everyone else until he found an unused piano in a cellar and decided to play and teach other prisoners to sing the “Verdi Requiem”. This piece of music was eventually performed in front of high ranking Nazi officers and was a demonstration of hope and courage set against a backdrop of evil.

Documentaries like Defiant Requiem are essential in the recording and education of significant historical events. The Holocaust was a time where the world saw the worst of humanity. This documentary shows the very best. The interviews of survivors and the filmmakers have painted a fascinating picture here, one that that sheds light on a very dark time period. Rafael Schächter was a hero and his fellow prisoners knew it. The beauty of music was their weapon against the Nazis and what a weapon it was. If you care to learn a little bit more about history and gain a better understanding of the mentality of the Jewish prisoners, then Defiant Requiem is a documentary definitely worth checking out.

DVD Bonus Features

Unfortunately, there are no bonus features for Defiant Requiem.