Professor to talk about the music of concentration camp prisoners

February 17, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s Center for European Studies invites the public to two talks on Tuesday by Barbara Milewski, associate professor of music at Swarthmore College.

“Camp Mementos from Krystyna Żywulska, and the Making of a Satirist-Songwriter in Auschwitz-Birkenau” is co-sponsored by the Institute of Learning in Retirement. The talk is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Oak Hammock, 5100 SW 25th Blvd, entrance on Williston Road at 25th Terrace. It is free and the public is welcome.

Krystyna Żywulska is best known as the author of “Przeżyłam Oświęcim” (“I Survived Auschwitz”). Virtually unknown but no less important are Żywulska’s songs and poetry created during her imprisonment. These remarkable works not only offer valuable insight into the daily experiences and cultural activities of prisoners in the most notorious of Hilter’s camps, but also reveal the unlikely birth of a literary and satirical talent. This talk examines a selection of Żywulska’s camp songs and the various contexts in which they were created.

“Remembering the Concentration Camps: Aleksander Kulisiewicz and his Concerts of Prisoners’ Songs” will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Friends of Music Room, University Auditorium.

Aleksander Kulisiewicz (1918-1982) was a law student in German-occupied Poland in October 1939 when the Gestapo arrested him for antifascist writings and sent him to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. A talented amateur singer, songwriter, and musician, he composed 54 songs during five years of imprisonment, and took part in a range of music-making activities in the camp. He also acted as a self-sanctioned song documentarian, committing to memory the musical creations of fellow-inmates.

Relying on hitherto unexamined archival documents and recordings, this paper explores Kulisiewicz’s public concertizing of prisoners’ songs and evaluates his contributions to Holocaust and World War II remembrance.

This talk is co-sponsored by Musicology Colloquium, School of Music and the Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Chair in Political Science and will be followed by a reception.

For more information, call 352-392-8902.