Miriam Wattenberg -- 11 september 1940

• Miriam Wattenberg was een Joods meisje dat in 1940 in het ghetto in Warschau terechtkwam. Dankzij de Amerikaanse nationaliteit van haar moeder kon ze in 1944 naar de Verenigde Staten vertrekken, waarna ze haar naam veranderde in Mary Berg. Ze hield een dagboek bij van 1939-1944, dat na de oorlog gepubliceerd werd. Het fragnment gaat over een show waar ze aan deelnam, die bedoeld was om geld in te zamelen voor de Joodse vluchtelingen uit Lodz.

SEPTEMBER 11, 1940
Our first performance took place early this month at 5 Przejazd, in the Joint Distribution Committee office. Our success surpassed all expectations, and the receipts were considerable. We were immcdiately asked to give other performances, all of which were very successful. Our Lodz group is proud of making such a hit in Warsaw. Some of us are now quite famous with the Jewish population. Harry's voice fascinates all the girls, Stefan's witty introductions arouse stormy applause, and Olga is praised for her playing. As for myself, the most fantastic rumors are spread about me—this is Harry's work. People wonder whether it is really true that I know very little Polish and that I performed in America. At every show I have to repeat my first song, "Moonlight and Shadow," several times. The other members of our group are also very popular. We call ourselves the "Lodz Artistic Group," or, as it is abbreviated in Polish, the LZA. This is curiously symbolic: the word "lza" in Polish means "tear."
At about the same time as we organized our group, a few cafés were opened on the Aryan side, where famous Polish artists who refused to perform in the Nazi-controlled theaters serve simultaneously as artists and waiters.