Susan Eischleid – The Truth about Fania Fenelon and

the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Chapter 1:
o ‘I have learned the lesson that he who is first to write his memories can rewrite history. After
he does, others have to react and deny it from a worst position’ – Arie Olewski (pg. 1)
o FF’s book published 1976, adapted into TV movie by CBS in 79 (pg.2)
o Stage production in England 2015 (pg.3)
o ‘Equally wounding was Fenelon’s portrayal of the women as a squabbling mass of petty
individuals and her cruel treatment of prisoners of other nationalities – particularly the
polish women. Her memoire does not accurately represent the closeness that many
members felt for one another and the true support system they provided each other
emotionally’

Chapter 2:
o ‘Although a few of the women from the orchestra perished during these travails, the
majority lived to see the end of the war. Most credited their survival to the orchestra at
Birkenau, and to Alma Rose.’ (pg.9)

Chapter 3:
o ‘By the time further research proved much of the book to be in error or heavily embellished,
her memoir was already very well embedded in the Holocaust consciousness.’ (pg.11)
o Much about Fania’s past is unclear including the genuine year of her birth and the years she
attended music school in France (pg.12)
o Claimed she was a heroine in the French resistance during occupation but these claims
contain contradictions and embellishments
o After Auschwitz she never had a prominent career as a musicians and lived very modestly –
maybe a factor as to why she felt the need to be remembered by her book? (pg.13)

Chapter 4:
o Memoir was promoted as a factual novel in all it’s marketing (pg.18)
o ‘Apart from the profound misrepresentations of Alma Rose and Claire Monis, Fenelon seems
to have made a conscious choice to portray her other colleagues in the orchestra in the
worst possible light. Women are variously described as “monsters”, “pigs”, “fat shapeless
cows”… Fania made up poorly disguised pseudonyms for most of the characters in the book’
 o “She was just one of us, liked to tell stories, and was generally liked” – Anita Lasker-Wallfisch
o Was considered a friend by some of the women
o ‘Fania presents herself as the “heroine” of the story, the true leader of the orchestra, a
saintly and generous individual who held herself above the petty jealousies and
misbehaviors she portrayed in the others. Lasker-Wallfisch notes of the book that “there are
too many misrepresentations to name, but the most serious one is that Fania took on the
role of ‘hero’ when, if there was a hero at all, it was Alma Rose”.’
o Live interview testimony gathered of remaining orchestra survivors
o Other survivors noted discrepancies with the book page by page (pg.19)
o ‘After comparing and contrasting all of these resources it has been determined that
Fenelon’s memoir contains at least 81 specific instances of prevarication, embellishment or
imagination; as well as a problematic overall tone, inaccurate and cruel depictions of specific
individuals, and pervasive non-substantiated assumptions and conclusions’
o ‘One can argue that Fenelon’s memoir is so hugely successful in the popular market, in part,
because of her often sordid and inflammatory portrayals of her colleagues. For the
uninformed reader such sordid details add drama and titillation. For her colleagues,
however, Fenelon’s portrayals wounded them deeply.’
o ‘All of the survivors agree that there are elements of truth in the book, most often in certain
descriptions of the camp and the depiction of hunger. But they also universally agree that
the “central truth” of the orchestra was not accurately represented’

Chapter 6:
o ‘In general a story is detailed only when it has three or more other survivors weighing in to
contradict or reinforce what Fania says’ (pg. 25)
o ‘Many of the survivors credit their survival to the close bonds and support which existed
between them.’ (pg.26)
o ‘…“was a TOTAL misrepresentation of Alma as bigoted, servile, mean, stupid and cruel. She
was none of these things. She was a person of very high standards in EVERY respect. She had
an impossible task – to make an orchestra out of a bunch of people where only a handful
played their instruments well. Alma threw herself into the task with a fervor which seems
absurd under the circumstances. Focused our attention on matters like playing the right
notes rather than dwelling on what was going on outside the barracks.”.’ (pg. 28)
o Accounts of Alma trying to recruit sick, hospitalized prisoners into the orchestra to save
them from death (pg. 29)
o Fania claims that Alma would physically assault members of the orchestra from playing
wrong which is denied by other survivors (pg.30)
o ‘Zofia Cykowiak notes that, rather than physically bullying the girls as in Fania’s portrayal, “I
did on several occasions see Alma help, especially with the younger girls. I remember her
hugging Yvette once, when a rehearsal just got to be too much for her.”.’

2
 o Discredits any of Alma’s musical ability which is not only discredited by the other women in
the orchestra but also by the facts of Alma’s previously life as a virtuoso violinist and her
experience conducting elsewhere. (pg, 32-33)
o “How can one imagine that the head of the bloc could have the nerve to wake the SS camp
chief? Furthermore, the SS lived outside the camp. How could a sentinel have let Czajkowski
leave to go get Mandl? Really, when I read this I think I am dreaming” – Violette Jacquet
dismantling Fania’s claim of Alma’s death (pg. 34)
o Multiple claims of Fania’s jelousy towards Alma and Claire throughout the book

Chapter 9:
o Other scholarly works that criticised Fania’s claims:
- Gabriele Knapp, Das Frauenorchester in Auschwitz, 1996. Many of the survivors
interviewed believe she misused their testimonies (pg. 78-79)
- Shirli Gilbert, Music in the Holocaust
- Richard Newman devotes 5 pages to Alma and the controversy in Alma Rose: Vienna to
Auschwitz