A rare Holocaust-era songbook compiled by Jewish refugees and survivors has been translated into English and published for the first time following more than a decade of international research led by academics at the University of Sydney.

Originally printed in a limited run of just 500 copies, Mima’amakim (Out of the Depths) is a collection of songs created in Nazi camps and ghettos during the Second World War. Researchers say the publication preserves a powerful cultural record of resilience, survival and migration.

One of only five surviving copies worldwide was preserved for decades by a Holocaust survivor living in Sydney before being rediscovered in 2013 and later shared with migration academic Associate Professor Anna Boucher and ethnomusicologist Dr Joseph Toltz.

“Some of these songs were almost lost to history and now they can be heard again,” Toltz said.

“These songs are full of life and defiance. To hear them now is to hear voices that refused to be silenced.”