This inspired him to create a complete opera based on Roth's work, for which he persuaded his friend Hans Kafka (1902—1974) to write a libretto.
[1] Interest in the composer following the 50th anniversary of his death led to 2009 and 2010 student performances of excerpts from the opera in Rostock and Vienna.
[2] Act I takes place in Russia before World War I. Mendel Singer teaches Jewish children in a shtetl.
His son Schemaria escapes conscription by fleeing to the United States, and Mendel decides to follow him with his own family; but he is forced to leave Menuchim behind.
The war has broken out and Mendel has lost touch with Menuchim and with his other son, Jonas, who has joined the Russian army.