Fania Fénelon

Fania Fénelon

Fania Fénelon (September 2, 1908 as Fania Goldstein – December 19, 1983 in Paris) was a pianist, composer and cabaret singer.

Fénelon was born in Paris, the daughter of Jules Goldstein, an engineer in the rubber industry, and Maria Davidovna Bernstein (Marie in French), both parents hailing from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. She attended the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied under Germaine Martinelli, obtaining a first prize in piano (despite her diminutive size and very small hands) and at the same time worked nights, singing in bars. She had two brothers, Leonide and Michel Goldstein. Her marriage to Silvio Perla (a Swiss athlete, specialist in the 5000m) ended in divorce. In the Second World War she supported the French Resistance against the Nazis, was arrested, and was first deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau,cite news|last=McKee|first=Jenn|coauthors=|title=Holocaust Memorial visit inspires rehearsals|pages=|publisher=MLive.com|date=2007-03-25|url=http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/features-1/1174806787248760.xml&coll=2|accessdate=2007-04-24] where she was a member of the girl orchestra of Auschwitz, then to Bergen-Belsen, until she was freed in 1945. Suffering from a potentially fatal case of typhus and weighing only sixty pounds, she sang for the BBC on the day of her liberation by British troops. (A Library of Congress entry for this recording gives her name as Fanja Perla, her married name at the time; her divorce from Perla was finalized after the war.)

Under her pseudonym of "Fénelon" (which she took up after the war), Fania Goldstein became a well known cabaret singer. In 1966 she went with her African-American "life-partner" to East Berlin. (She never divulged his identity, but Aubrey Pankey, a baritone who chose to live in East Germany due to American racism and his own Communist sympathies, fits many of the details.) After her partner's death she returned to France. Between 1973 and 1975 she wrote the book "Sursis pour l'orchestre", in which she described her experiences. The book was based on her diary from the concentration camps. It was remarkably frank on many sensitive topics: the degrading compromises survivors had to make, the black humor of inmates (the orchestra women are often depicted as laughing hysterically over gruesome sights), the religious and national tensions among inmates, and the normality of prostitution and lesbian relationships (this last perhaps the most controversial, since it was the most heavily cut in translation). Many of her fellow survivors of the women's orchestra took issue in private with her portrayal of them, particularly Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Violette Jacquet. Almost all survivors who read the book disagreed with its negative portrayal of Alma Rosé, the orchestra's kapo and conductor. The book would be translated into German and English in slightly abridged editions. Fania Fénelon told the press at the time that she was writing another book about her life after the camps, but this never appeared.

Linda Yellen filmed the book under the title "Playing For Time," using as script a dramatic adaptation by Arthur Miller. Fania bitterly opposed Miller's and Yellen's sanitized rendition of life in the camps and above all Yellen's casting of Vanessa Redgrave to play her. Redgrave was a well-known PLO sympathizer and at nearly six feet tall, bore little resemblance to the petite Fania. "I do not accept a person to play me who is the opposite of me," Fénelon declared. "I wanted Liza Minnelli. She's small, she's full of life, she sings and dances. Vanessa...doesn't have a sense of humor, and that is the one thing that saved me from death in the camp." Fénelon scolded Redgrave to her face on 60 Minutes. Redgrave, however, won the support of the acting community as the issue of her political freedom took precedence over her suitability for the role. Fania Fénelon never forgave Redgrave, but eventually softened her view of the production to cede that it was "a fair film."

Fania "Fénelon" Goldstein died on 19 December 1983 in a Paris hospital. The causes were listed as cancer and heart disease.

Books

* Fania Fénelon: "Sursis pour l'orchestre"
*"Das Mädchenorchester in Auschwitz". dtb, München, 1991, ISBN 3-423-01706-6
*"Playing for Time"
*Joel Agee: "Twelve Years"

References

External links

* [http://home.att.net/~rw.rynerson/daruber.htm Research into references to Aubrey Pankey and life in the GDR.]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fania Fenelon — Fania Fénelon (* 2. September 1922 als Fania Goldstein; † 19. Dezember 1983 in Paris) war eine Chansonsängerin. Sie wurde als Tochter eines jüdischen Kaufmannes geboren. In Paris besuchte sie die Musikhochschule und arbeitete nebenbei nachts als… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fania Fénelon — (* 2. September 1922 in Paris als Fania Goldstein; † 19. Dezember 1983 ebenda) war eine französische Chansonsängerin. Sie wurde als Tochter eines jüdischen Kaufmannes geboren. In Paris besuchte sie die Musikhochschule und arbeitete nebenbei… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fania Goldstein — Fania Fénelon (* 2. September 1922 als Fania Goldstein; † 19. Dezember 1983 in Paris) war eine Chansonsängerin. Sie wurde als Tochter eines jüdischen Kaufmannes geboren. In Paris besuchte sie die Musikhochschule und arbeitete nebenbei nachts als… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fénelon — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Fania Fénelon (1922–1983), französische Chansonsängerin François Fénelon (1651–1715), französischer Geistlicher und Schriftsteller Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheid …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz — The Women s Orchestra of Auschwitz or Girls Orchestra of Auschwitz was a female orchestra at Auschwitz concentration camp created in June 1943 by a Polish music teacher, Mrs. Zofia Czajkowska, by order of the SS. The members were prisoner girls,… …   Wikipedia

  • Frauenorchester von Auschwitz — Das Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz wurde im Juni 1943 auf Befehl der SS durch die polnische Musiklehrerin Zofia Czajkowska aufgebaut. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Allgemeine Hinweise 2 Einsätze des Orchesters 2.1 Ein und Ausmarsch 2.2 Legende: An der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz — Das Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz stellte die polnische Musiklehrerin Zofia Czajkowska im Juni 1943 im KZ Auschwitz Birkenau zusammen, auf Befehl der SS. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Allgemeine Hinweise 2 Einsätze des Orchesters 2.1 Ein und Ausmarsch …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alma Rosé — (November 3, 1906 Vienna – April 4, 1944 Concentration Camp Auschwitz) was an Austrian violinist of Jewish descent. Her uncle was the composer Gustav Mahler. Alma Rosé was deported by the Nazis to the infamous concentration camp at Auschwitz… …   Wikipedia

  • Alma Rosé — Tombe d Alma Rosé et de ses parents au cimetière autrichien de Grinzing Alma Rosé (née le 3 novembre 1906 et morte le 4 avril 1944 dans le camp de concentration d Auschwitz) est une violoniste autrichienne d origine juive …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Alma rosé — Tombe d Alma Rosé et de ses parents au cimetière autrichien de Grinzing Alma Rosé (née le 3 novembre 1906 et morte le 4 avril 1944 dans le camp de concentration d Auschwitz) est une violoniste autrichienne d ori …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”