By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — When Alison Loeb needed a telephone line fixed in her Washington Heights apartment, the repairman told her about a job he had once done in exchange for nothing more than a song.
Rose, a poor, elderly, German-Jewish woman needed her phone fixed, but didn't have the money to pay. So in place of cash, the repairman accepted a Mendelssohn song, which Rose played for him on her piano.
Upon hearing the story, Loeb had an idea for a musical. She would go about collecting the stories of German Jews who had emigrated to Washington Heights during the 1930s and 1940s — earning the neighborhood it's nickname, "Frankfurt on the Hudson" — and set them to the music of Felix Mendelssohn, the 19th century German composer.
"I found all these great stories that center around life and survival and tolerance," Loeb said, describing her more than decade-long process of learning the personal histories of Jewish immigrants who lived in Washington Heights after fleeing Europe during Nazi rule.
The result is "MendelsSongs: Stories of a Neighborhood."
One song tells the story of how a gold bracelet helped a woman escape Germany in 1938 during "Kristallnacht," also known as the "Night of Broken Glass," the 1938 pogrom when Jewish businesses were destroyed and people were murdered in the streets..
Another tells the tale of a sick 12-year-old who had a hard time fleeing Europe during war time.
"The songs are really about the common human experience," Loeb said.
Though the performance is billed as a "concert based on the oral histories of the German Jews of Washington Heights," some of the stories are about other immigrants in the area.
One song, for example, is about a Catholic man's adoration for Washington Heights and a woman he will never forget.
"There can be such a schism between the ethnic succession, the different groups moving in ... gentrification," Loeb said. "There is always friction, it doesn't matter who it is. It is important to remember we are all in this together."
Tickets to the one-night-only event can be purchased online, at the door or by calling 347-879-0809 for a suggested donation of $10.
The performance is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7, at Hebrew Tabernacle, 551 Fort Washington Ave.
