idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Eighty years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poland and the University of Bayreuth are jointly investigating the connections between music, space, and violence in Auschwitz. At a conference taking place from 26 to 28 November, organised by Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Kozłowski of AMU and Prof. Dr. Anno Mungen from the Research Institute for Music Theatre (fimt) at the University of Bayreuth, in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, scholars from around the world will come together to discuss this topic.
In an attempt to distract themselves and make their lives more comfortable, concentration camp guards forced prisoners to perform music for them. Research into musical practices in the camps has so far focused on music as an act of resistance and resilience by the prisoners. Only recently has the perspective broadened: music in the camps was also used as a means of control, humiliation, and torture. The upcoming conference will specifically explore this perspective of music as an act of violence.
The choice of the former concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz as the venue brings the discussion back to its place of origin and simultaneously opens up another perspective—that of remembrance and commemoration. As the most thoroughly researched camp, Auschwitz offers the opportunity to examine contemporary practices of Holocaust remembrance and to highlight the importance of ongoing research. The conference will focus on three thematic areas connected through music: violence, memory, and spatiality.
The conference will take place from 26 to 28 November 2025 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Oświęcim, Poland. Researchers from Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany will present their work. Student excursions from Bayreuth and Poznań, as well as other cities, will also be part of the conference. All interested parties are warmly invited to attend the conference free of charge. Registration is possible via the form on the conference website and is open until 10 November: https://www.fimt.uni-bayreuth.de/de/forschung/tagungen/auschwitz/index.html
The conference is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the German Foundation for Peace Research, and the University Association Bayreuth e. V. The excursion of Bayreuth students is supported by BAYHOST and Almaviva e. V.
Prof. Dr. Anno Mungen
Research Institute for Music Theatre (fimt)
University of Bayreuth
Phone: +49 (0)9228 / 99605-10
E-Mail: anno.mungen@uni-bayreuth.de
https://www.fimt.uni-bayreuth.de/de/forschung/tagungen/auschwitz/index.html
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars, all interested persons
History / archaeology, Music / theatre, Philosophy / ethics, Religion
transregional, national
Scientific conferences
English
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