Aeham Ahmad

One morning on the outskirts of Damascus, two starving friends are walking through their desolate city and come across a familiar street that has been turned to rubble, concrete bridges towering above them like tombs and houses turned inside out. Aeham turns to the only comfort he has left and sits at his piano to play a song of hope to his fellow Syrians. It is a song that will reach far beyond the streets of his home and carry consequences he could never have dreamed of. This tender and poetic account of Aeham's experiences, from losing his city, friends and family to leaving his country and finding safety, will move readers with raw and candid emotion. This is a gripping portrait of a man's search for solace and of a country that has been fiercely torn apart.

Pianist of Damascus The

An astonishing but true account of a pianist’s escape from war-torn Syria to Germany offers a deeply personal perspective on the most devastating refugee crisis of this century. Aeham Ahmad was born a second-generation refugee—the son of a blind violinist and carpenter who recognized Aeham's talent and taught him how to play piano and love music from an early age. When his grandparents and father were forced to flee Israel and seek refuge from the Israeli–Palestinian conflict ravaging their home, Aeham’s family built a life in Yarmouk, an unofficial camp to more than 160,000 Palestinian refugees in Damascus. They raised a new generation in Syria while waiting for the conflict to be resolved so they could return to their homeland. Instead, another fight overtook their asylum. Their only haven was in music and in each other. Forced to leave his family behind, Aeham sought out a safe place for them to call home and build a better life, taking solace in the indestructible bond between fathers and sons to keep moving forward. Heart-wrenching yet ultimately full of hope, and told in a raw and poignant voice, The Pianist from Syria is a gripping portrait of one man’s search for a peaceful life for his family and of a country being torn apart as the world watches in horror.

A Memoir

The Pianist from Syria

Pianist of Damascus

Un jeune homme joue et chante au milieu des décombres et des maisons éventrées. La photo, prise à Yarmouk, ville de réfugiés palestiniens de la banlieue de Damas, a fait le tour du monde. Ce musicien est devenu un symbole d'humanité face à la guerre. Après avoir enduré avec dignité les souffrances du conflit syrien, celui que l'on surnomme désormais le "pianiste des ruines" a finalement dû se résoudre à prendre le chemin de l'exil : en guise d'avertissement, Daech avait brûlé son piano... Partageant le sort de milliers d'autres, il a ainsi connu la séparation d'avec sa famille, la périlleuse traversée de la Méditerranée, l'éprouvante route des Balkans, puis l'arrivée en Allemagne. Dans cette autobiographie bouleversante, Aeham Ahmad raconte son enfance de Palestinien en Syrie, son apprentissage de la musique au sein d'une famille talentueuse, jusqu'à la révolution de 2011, bientôt engloutie par la guerre. Un éclat d'obus le blesse à la main. Bravant la peur, il décide alors de jouer dans la rue, se laissant filmer pour témoigner de la résistance qui subsiste, obstinée, dans la ville assiégée. Car ce livre a une portée politique. Il dénonce la violence extrême, les exactions du régime d'Assad comme celles des djihadistes, mais il rappelle aussi la précarité du peuple syrien et le destin tragique de tous les réfugiés. Un requiem en hommage aux victimes et une ode à la musique.

Le pianiste de Yarmouk

Der »Pianist aus den Trümmern« erzählt seine Geschichte erstmals selbst: Aeham Ahmads Buch »Und die Vögel werden singen. Ich, der Pianist aus den Trümmern« ist ein zutiefst beeindruckendes Zeugnis von Widerstand und Zuversicht. Ein junger Mann spielt Klavier inmitten der Bombenkrater. Für seine Nachbarn, vor allem für die Kinder, um sie von den Schrecken des Krieges abzulenken. Über YouTube hat sein Spiel Menschen auf der ganzen Welt erreicht und bewegt. Nun erzählt Aeham Ahmad seine ganze Geschichte. Von seiner behüteten Kindheit in einem noch friedlichen Syrien, von seinem blinden Vater, dem Instrumentenbauer, von seinen Freunden Mahmoud und Meras, mit denen er durch die Straßen von Damaskus zieht. Doch er erzählt auch von den Anfängen der Rebellion, dem Beginn des schrecklichen Krieges und von seiner lebensgefährlichen Flucht nach Deutschland, das ihm zur neuen Heimat werden muss. Und immer wieder ist es seine Musik, die andere Menschen getröstet, ermutigt und ihm selbst buchstäblich das Leben gerettet hat.

Ich, der Pianist aus den Trümmern

Und die Vögel werden singen

'In amongst the wreckage scenes of hope. An amazing man - Ahmad played the piano just to spread love' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 The incredible and inspirational true story of one young man's struggle to find peace during war, and the power of music to bring hope to a desperate nation. One morning in war-torn Damascus, a starving man drags a piano into a rubbled street. Everything he once knew has been destroyed by war. Amidst ruin and despair, he begins to play. He plays of love and hope, he plays for his family and his fellow Syrians. He plays even though he could be killed for doing so. As word of his defiance spreads around the world, he becomes a beacon of hope and even resistance. Yet he fears for his wife and children - the more he plays, the more he and his family are endangered until, finally, he must make a terrible choice . . . Aeham Ahmad's spellbinding and uplifting true story tells of the triumph of love and hope, the incredible bonds of family, and the healing power of music in even the very darkest of places. ___________ 'An extraordinary, beautiful book about a man who in the midst of utter terror wheeled his piano in to the street and played for Yarmouk. He is amazing' Nihal Arthanayake BBC 5 Live 'The music of Aeham Ahmad became a symbol of resistance' Today, BBC Radio 4 'So inspiring' ITV News 'Aeham Ahmad is a talented and brave man of peace. Please read his book and pass it on to anyone who doesn't know or understand the plight of today's refugees' Stanley Tucci BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week

Aeham Ahmad

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