Cecelia Margules
Composer · Lyricist · Author
"The lesson of remembrance is one I will never regret, nor should I or the world."
Cecelia Margules was born to Sarah and Moses Berkowitz, both survivors of the Łódź Ghetto and Auschwitz. She grew up in a home where the Holocaust was not a chapter in a history book, but a presence at the kitchen table.
"Growing up devoid of grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews," she has written. "I have been asked many times if it was a topic spoken about in our home. The answer is: yes, daily."
Her mother Sarah authored a memoir, "In Search of Ashes" (1984), documenting her experiences. Her stories, and those of her father, became the soil from which Cecelia's life work would grow.
Cecelia studied music science, and after graduating spent several years working in the commercial music industry. Over time, she became increasingly drawn to the power of lyrics, and to the question of how a survivor's child carries memory forward when the witnesses themselves are gone.
The answer, for Cecelia, was song.
Cecelia's mission is grounded in a single, urgent question, one she put into the lyrics of her song "The Last Survivor":
"Who will tell the story?
Who will light the flame?
Who will bear our legacy of pain?"
For Cecelia, the answer cannot be left to chance. She has devoted her career to building bridges between the world of the survivors and the next generations who will know only their stories. She does this through:
Cecelia wrote, composed, and produced the world's first music video depicting the Holocaust. Sung by Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, the film follows a Jewish family in Poland from peace into the Kraków Ghetto and beyond. It was Cecelia's groundbreaking entry into Holocaust education through cinematic music.
An ongoing musical initiative featuring collaborations with leading Jewish artists, Gad Elbaz, Dudu Fisher, Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, Nofar Cohen, the Holocaust Survivor Band, and others. Songs include "We Are Rachel's Children", "Shmor", "Mira", "I Know", "Even", "Let the Light Shine On", and "Change the World".
A documentary film project (Cecelia's most personal cinematic work) exploring memory, inheritance, and the fragments through which survivors and their children make meaning. The film premiered with an opening night event drawing community leaders and survivors.
Together with her husband Rubin, Cecelia supports the Yossi Berger Holocaust Education Center at the Appleman Emunah College of Art and Technology in Baka, Israel. The center trains future teachers to educate children about the Holocaust through the arts. In 2020 they were honored at the Emunah annual dinner.
Cecelia writes a recurring "Word Prompt" column for The Jewish Press, offering meditations on themes such as Regret, Mistakes, Miracles, Mechila, and Slicha. Her writing weaves family memory, faith, and the responsibilities of remembrance.
A studio album bridging traditional and contemporary Jewish music, including the track "Wings of Song" with violinist Miri Ben Ari. Cecelia's catalog reaches listeners through Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and 24Six.
This archive is the digital home of Cecelia Margules' life's work: a living testament to the survivors, the lost, and the next generations.
Through music, film, writing, and education, Cecelia ensures that the names of her aunt Mira and the 1.5 million Jewish children lost in the Holocaust, along with the testimonies of her parents and the countless others whose stories she carries, will continue to be heard.
She will never forget them. And she works, day by day, song by song, so that the world will not forget either.
Songs, lyrics, and music videos from the Cecelia Margules Project.
Explore Media →Articles, columns, and reflections by and about Cecelia.
Read Press →Live events, concerts, premieres, and commemorations.
View Concerts →ceceliamargules.com, her personal website with current news.
Visit Site ↗