Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2014
Department
Music
Language
English
Publication Title
Dislocated Memories: Jews, Music, and Postwar German Culture
Abstract
During the Holocaust, Terezín (Theresienstadt) was designed to function as a so-called "model camp." At Terezín, the Nazis allowed inmates to hold musical rehearsals and perform publicly; exhibiting such activities was cultural propaganda designed to dupe visiting organizations, including the International Red Cross. Whereas music was performed in nearly all the camps, Joža Karas asserts that Terezín provided Jewish prisoners with a unique chance to "devote all [their] energy to [a] chosen field" and thus experience "exciting feelings [that] could not be dampened by the unpleasantness and difficulties of ...life in the ghetto." He concludes his evaluation by citing Greta Hofmeister, a survivor who played the role of Aninka in the storied productions of the children's opera Brundibár: she "exclaim[s] exuberantly," "Music! Music was life! [emphasis in the original].
Recommended Citation
Wlodarski, Amy Lynn. "Musical Memories of Terezín in Transnational Perspective." In Dislocated Memories: Jews, Music, and Postwar German Culture, edited by Tina Frühauf and Lily E. Hirsch, 57-72. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Comments
This published version is made available on Dickinson Scholar with the permission of the publisher. For more information on the published version, visit Oxford University Press's Website.