Music, Violence, Memory in Auschwitz-Birkenau: Memory Project
Project leadership: Prof. Dr. Anno Mungen, Research Institute for Music Theater, University of Bayreuth
Project typ: Networking project (FB 2: Networking and knowledge transfer)
Funding amount: 10 Tsd. Euro
Event: Oświęcim (Poland), 28. November 2025
Abstract
„Music, Violence, Memory in Auschwitz-Birkenau: Memory Project”
The conference “Music, Violence, Memory in Auschwitz-Birkenau” is jointly organized by the Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznań, Poland, and the Research Institute for Music Theatre Studies (fimt) of the University of Bayreuth (UBT) in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. It will take place 26–28 November 2025 in Oświęcim, Poland. The conference is a first-of-a-kind undertaking, especially given its unique location, and will examine how the memory of music and violence in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp functions today. By creating this project, we hope to contribute to reflection, discussion, and a more nuanced understanding of music practices in camps in general, and their connection to practices of violence in particular, providing a basis for using this understanding in future peacebuilding efforts.
Since Auschwitz is one of the most well-known concentration and extermination camps, it is often regarded as a symbol of the Shoah and thus as a focal point for the culture of remembrance. One of the major programmatic goals of the whole project is to hold it directly at the site of the extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. By holding the conference in Oświęcim we aim to highlight the relevance of continued research into the events from 80 years ago and the importance of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial to the culture of remembrance today.
The conference in Oświęcim will focus on three thematic aspects which are found in its title: violence, memory, and spatiality of the extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Music will serve as a key reference linking these three aspects. Due to the complexity of the given topic – encompassing methodological, source-related, and historiographical aspects – the conference program is divided into two parts: I. History Project (26–27 November) and II. Memory Project (28 November). By doing this, we aim to facilitate reflection not only on the source material but also on its transfer into the practical initiatives.
Among other goals, the conference seeks to foster international exchange and intercultural dialogue between Poland and Germany and to actively involve young scholars, to help strengthen the culture of remembrance of the Shoah. To this end, the program includes paper presentations by internationally renowned scholars from Poland, the USA, the UK, France, Spain, and Germany, as well as excursions for student groups from Poznań and Bayreuth.