[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


    RECOGNIZING SINGER-SONGWRITER CLARE BURSON FOR BRINGING SOCIAL 
                AWARENESS TO THE HOLOCAUST THROUGH MUSIC

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                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 24, 2010

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize singer and 
songwriter Clare Burson for her work in bringing awareness to the 
Holocaust through music. Chronicled through research and stories from 
her family, her new album ``Silver and Ash'' remembers her family and 
pays tribute to the many Jewish men, women and children who suffered 
and died during this dark period in history.
  Clare Burson had always been interested in learning her family's 
history since the young age of 8 years old. However, her grandmother, 
Joci Burson, was reluctant to speak about the events that caused her 
family to flee their home in Germany due to the painful memories. Joci, 
who lived in Memphis, Tennessee, would receive letters from family that 
fled to Latvia updating her on their condition. Receiving letters from 
only 1938-1941 was undoubtedly a sign that the worst had happened and 
forced Joci into mourning and silence about the tragedy that befell the 
family.
  Clare Burson spent much of her young adult life researching her 
family's history to gain a better understanding of how the Holocaust 
changed her family. Her research led her to move to Germany and to 
travel to Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine--the homes of her ancestors. As 
a result of her research and through her songs, she was able to convey 
resemblances of her sister to their great-grandmother in ``Look 
Close.'' In ``I Will/With You,'' Ms. Burson encourages her grandmother 
to share her memories so that she and others will forever remember 
their history.
  In ``Baby Boy,'' Clare Burson describes a metaphorical hole in her 
great-great-grandmother's home after sending her son to Lithuania to 
escape conscription to military service in the German army. Although 
not in her lyrics, Ms. Burson shared a piece of her family's history 
saying that her great-great-grandmother sent her son to Lithuania in 
1893 with a trunk of belongings and a wedge of cheese made by his 
mother. He then moved to South Africa and stayed there for 10 years 
before moving to Memphis, where he married her great-grandmother, 
Clare. They had 4 children including her grandmother who, when she 
passed away, gave her the cheese. That wedge of cheese still exists and 
is now 117 years old.
  Sixty-five years after the Holocaust, the number of Jewish Holocaust 
survivors and those who lived during that time is decreasing. Like many 
events in our history, both good and bad, we must ensure the 
fundamental nature of the Holocaust is passed along to future 
generations. There must never again be such a display of intolerance 
towards any group of people. Thank you Clare Burson for giving us such 
beautiful music set to your family's memories and our shared history.

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