The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, a collective primarily composed of amateur musicians, reached a standard of excellence under the leadership of a professional violinist who insisted that every member would survive together or die together. Alma Rosé, a Vienna-born conductor and performer, assumed the baton in the camp after her deportation in July 1943.
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Born on 3 November 1906, Alma Maria Rosé was the daughter of Arnold Rosé, a violinist, and Justine Rosé-Mahler. Through her mother, she was the niece of Gustav Mahler. She made her debut as a violin soloist on 29 July 1922 at the age of fifteen. In 1932, she founded an ensemble called Die Wiener Walzermädeln, which toured extensively across Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.
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Following the annexation of Austria in 1938, Rosé fled to London with her father. She subsequently moved to the Netherlands to continue her career, but became trapped when German forces occupied the country. Despite a fictitious marriage to a Dutch engineer named August van Leeuwen Boomkamp and a status as a Christian convert, she was unable to escape persecution. She fled to France and was eventually captured by the Gestapo while attempting to reach neutral Switzerland. After spending time at the Drancy internment camp, she was deported to Auschwitz in July 1943.
Leadership at Auschwitz
Upon recovering from an initial illness at the camp, Rosé became the Kapo of the music block and leader of the Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz. The orchestra played at the main gate for departing and returning work details and performed for the SS. Rosé orchestrated music, played violin solos, and insisted the ensemble rehearse forbidden pieces by Jewish and Polish composers to maintain morale. She held her members to rigorous standards; all survived during her tenure, and all but two lived to see the end of the war.
Death and Legacy
Rosé died on 4 or 5 April 1944 at the age of 37 due to a sudden illness, possibly food poisoning. Josef Mengele had previously ordered a spinal tap during her final days. Her life and death were later represented in the television film Playing for Time, though survivors criticized the depiction as containing distortions. In 2006, the Exilarte center dedicated its first concert to her, and the Alma Rosé Quartett was established in 2022.
Fast facts
- Born: 3 November 1906, Vienna
- Died: 4/5 April 1944, Auschwitz II-Birkenau
- Nationality: Austrian; German Reich
- Occupations: Violinist, conductor, choir director
- First marriage: Váša Příhoda, 1930
- Orchestra founded: Die Wiener Walzermädeln, 1932
Questions readers ask
Did all members of the Auschwitz women's orchestra survive the war?
All members survived during Rosé's tenure. After her death, all except two, Lola Kroner and Julie Stroumsa, lived to see the end of the war.
What instruments were included in the orchestra?
The ensemble featured a string section, accordions, percussion, guitars, flute, recorder, and mandolins, though it lacked a brass section.
Achievements
- Instruments: violin
