Auschwitz men's orchestra

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The male orchestras in Auschwitz were several orchestras in the Auschwitz concentration camp , which consisted almost exclusively of professional musicians .

Career and position

The Auschwitz concentration camp already had a male orchestra in January 1941. In this early period Jews were not allowed in the orchestra. With the many sub-camps , up to six orchestras were formed over time.

In addition to the Auschwitz girls' orchestra , this included four to five male orchestras and, at times, a “gypsy orchestra”. The director of a male orchestra was the Polish composer and conductor Adam Kopyciński , who later became the director (1954–1961) of the Warsaw Philharmonic. In contrast to the girls' orchestra, the male orchestras consisted largely of professional musicians.

When the Soviet troops approached, the camp inmates and orchestra members who were able to march were deported to the interior of the Reich in October 1944 . The prisoners who remained in the camp were liberated on January 27, 1945 by Red Army soldiers. Although at least one male orchestra was known, they did not reach the level of awareness of the girls' orchestra under its outstanding director Alma Rosé , whose story was even filmed twice, in 1980 and 1992.

meaning

So far, historical research knows little about the concentration camp orchestras, which had to make music on command, about their use and the functions of the “commanded” music. However, there are indications that this topic is increasingly being addressed by historians.

Music had a special meaning for the prisoners. Inge Lammel quotes the former conductor of the camp orchestra in Auschwitz, Adam Kopycinski, in one of her articles:

“Music gives us simple knowledge of the truth of life. The longings of the human heart seek a hold in the sphere of tones. Thanks to its power and suggestive power, the music strengthened what is most important in the audience - true nature [...] and promoted the self-respect of people, which was so cruelly trampled upon during the camp life [...]. "

See also

literature

  • Szymon Laks : Music in Auschwitz. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1998, ISBN 3-7700-1092-2 . (Report by a survivor: the composer Szymon Laks was a violinist and orchestra conductor in the men's orchestra Birkenau.)
  • Fania Fénelon: The Girls Orchestra in Auschwitz. 12th edition, DTV, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-423-01706-6 .
  • Inge Lammel (Ed.): Songs from the fascist concentration camps. Hofmeister, Leipzig 1962.
  • Wolfgang Benz, Hermann Graml, Hermann Weiß: Encyclopedia of National Socialism . Munich 1997.
  • Fred K. Prieberg: Music in the Nazi State. Fischer, Frankfurt / M., 1989, ISBN 3-596-26901-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ answers.com: Adam Kopyciński.
  2. ^ Filharmonia Wrocławska. in the Polish Wikipedia
  3. ↑ Ulrich Weinzierl: The violinist from Auschwitz. In: The world. April 5, 2003 ( online ( memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.weidle-verlag.de
  4. ^ Sine Maier-Bode: The "girls orchestra". In: Planet Knowledge. January 27, 2005 ( online ( memento from September 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
  5. ↑ auschwitz.org.pl: Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. ( Memento of the original from December 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.auschwitz.org.pl
  6. ↑ Gabriele Knapp: “Commanded Music” - Music and music abuse in the women's camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In: Acta Musicologica . Vol. 68, fasc. 2 (Jul - Dec, 1996), pp. 149-166. ( online )
  7. ↑ Shoa.de: David Schwackenberg: Music in concentration camps.