News
Webinar: Camp Orchestras in KL Auschwitz - 28 October 2026
The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust invites you to take part in the webinar Camp Orchestras in KL Auschwitz on 28 October. The webinar will be held on Zoom, with simultaneous interpretation into Polish and English.
Programme (time zone CET):
16:00 | Opening of the webinar
16:05–17:05 | Male Orchestras in KL Auschwitz, lecture by Dr Jacek Lachendro, Auschwitz Museum Research Center
17:10–18:40 | Music in the Women’s Camp, Renata Koszyk, Museum educator
Participation in the webinar is free of charge. Please submit your application using the online form by 25 October 2026. After that date, registered participants will receive an email with a link to join the meeting. The webinar is intended for adults.
For further information, please contact Dr Maria Martyniak from the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust:
The main task of the orchestra in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz was to play marching music at the camp gate in order to facilitate the departure of prisoners for work and their return to the camp. The orchestras also performed concerts, usually on Sundays, for SS men and, with the permission of the camp authorities, for fellow prisoners.
The first orchestra was established at Auschwitz I in March 1941. Camp orchestras also operated in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, including both a male and a female orchestra, as well as in Auschwitz III-Monowitz.
Their repertoire consisted mainly of German and Austrian marches and classical music, excerpts from operas and operettas, as well as popular entertainment and dance music of the period.
Members of the male orchestras were generally assigned to lighter forms of labour, while women musicians were not required to perform additional work. The musicians lived in somewhat better conditions and had greater opportunities to obtain additional food.
Smaller orchestras also operated in the Roma and Sinti family camp and the Theresienstadt family camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, as well as in larger subcamps: Golleschau, Jawischowitz, Neudachs, Fürstengrube, Gleiwitz, Blechhammer and probably Janinagrube.
