Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz

The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, or the Girls' Orchestra of Auschwitz, was a female orchestra at Auschwitz concentration camp, which was created in Spring 1943 by order of the SS. The members were usually young female prisoners, of varying nationalities, who were spared regular camp labor in lieu of performing music that was regarded as helpful in the daily running of the camp.

The Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz (lit. "Girls Orchestra of Auschwitz") was first formed in April 1943 as a pet project of SS-Oberaufseherin ("SS chief supervisor") Maria Mandel, for the Germans who desired both a propaganda tool for visitors and camp newsreels, and as a tool for camp morale. It was led by a Polish music teacher, Mrs. Zofia Czajkowska, and remained small until May 1943 when Jews were allowed to be admitted. The members came from many countries, including Greece, Poland, Germany, the Ukraine and Belgium. Starting in June 1943, its primary role was to play (often for hours on end in all weather conditions) at the gate when the work gangs went out, and when they returned. The orchestra also gave weekend concerts for the prisoners and the SS and entertained at SS functions. They also played for sick prisoners in the infirmary, and were sometimes assigned to play when new transports arrived, or during selections.

In the early months, the ensemble consisted mainly of amateur musicians, with a string section, but also accordions and a mandolin, and lacked a bass section (having acquired their limited instruments and sheet music from the men's orchestra of the main Auschwitz camp). Since the musicians were all assigned to different barracks and work commandos, and with diverging schedules and could rarely all come together to rehearse. The repertoire of the orchestra was fairly limited, in terms of the available sheet music, the knowledge of the conductor and the wishes of the SS. The orchestra played mostly German marching songs, as well as the Polish folk and military songs that Czajkowska knew by heart. The orchestra also included two professional musicians, cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and vocalist/pianist Fania Fénelon, each of whom wrote memoirs of their time in the orchestra. Wallfisch, for example, recollected being told to play Schumann's Träumerei for Dr. Josef Mengele, while Fénelon's account, Playing for Time, was made into a film of the same name.

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