TMF EDUCATOR EDGAR KRASA (In Memoriam)

Edgar Krasa received a citation from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick for his work in Holocaust Education.

A drawing of singers at Terezin. Edgar Krasa is in the middle.

Edgar Krasa dedicated his life to educating young people about the Holocaust, and he spoke to many thousands of students across New England.

In 1941, Edgar was selected to be on the first transport to Terezín, to help convert the garrisson town to a concentration camp. He was ordered to set up the kitchen that would feed tens of thousands of prisoners, and he worked there until 1944, when he was deported to Auschwitz. He walked in the notorious Death March and survived by feigning death after being shot. Following a period in Israel, Edgar ran the Veronique restaurant in Brookline.  

In Terezín, Edgar’s barracks-mate was Rafael Schaechter, a pianist and conductor who led more than 150 Terezín prisoners, including Edgar, in performances of Verdi's Requiem, secretly structured as a protest against the Nazis. In memory of Mr. Schaechter, who perished in Auschwitz, Edgar created TMF's Krasa-Schaechter Fund, which fulfills the musician’s unrealized role as mentor by sponsoring young Czech, Israeli, and American composers. Edgar has been an extraordinary advocate of TMF. 

Edgar teaching at Concord Academy.