Customer Reviews

Playing for Time

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Playing for Time, a grade-A book by Fania Fenelon, is a document not only about the Holocaust, but one that goes deeper: it shows how music brought redemption of spirit in the Hell of Hells. When Fania and her friend are brought to the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, she is recognized by a girl in the camp's orchestra as a Parisian caberet singer. She is accepted in to the orchestra, where she is forced to sing the opera Madame Butterfly for the SS. Fania does not let the hardships of the camp take over her spirit, though. She uses music as a weapon, and, as an orchestrator as well as singer for the group, she orchestrates marches by Jews and anti-Nazis right under the noses of her captors, who never catch on. Fania's love of music allows her to survive Auschwitz, and when she is sent with the rest of the "Orchestra Girls" to Bergen-Belsen near the end of the war, her passion for life pulls her through a severe case of typhus. One day she learns that the Nazis are going to shoot the prisoners of Bergen-Belsen at 3:00 that afternoon. The English arrive at the camp at 11:00 that same morning. Fania just barely survived the war, and afterwards she returned to Paris and started again as a caberet singer. She died of cancer in her hometown in 1983. Playing for Time teaches us many things. It teaches us that the human spirit cannot be killed. It teaches us that good always wins over evil. And it teaches us that if you have a love, stick to it. One day it might just save your life.

This is an absolutely incredible book. An already powerful story it is taken to a new level by the constant reminder that this is first hand experience.

It is perfect for nearly anyone, the musician will relate to the music, the historian to the accuracy and the avid reader will simply latch on and be unable to let go.

It brought tears to my eyes.

This is the story of a French singer who spent 2± years in a Nazi concentration camp. Saved because of her musical abilities, FF spent her internment as a member of an all-women's orchestra which played for the camp's leaders. It is a strange tale, not especially well or clearly written--essentailly stuff for a holocaust junkey. Compared to Martin Goldsmith's The Unestinquishable Symphony, this book is definitely second tier.

I read this book a number of years ago. It left an indelible mark. It is the story of women survivors in a concentration camp. They literally "played for time," with musical instruments. The movie "Life is Beautiful" brought this book to mind this week. That is why I looked it up. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about courage in the face of adversity. The remarkable will to survive demonstrated by the women portrayed in this book is inspiring and unforgettable.

Since the age of sixteen I have been studying the Holocaust in my personal quest to understand the nature of human evil. Certainly, the cold blooded selection and murder of a group of people, men, women and children, in the name of some ideology could be considered pure evil short of killing for the single pleasure of killing. I have searched, found and watched films about the Holocaust. I have collected and read books, many many books, on the subject.

Fania Fenelon's recollecitions of the Holocaust, her experiences among the the inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau are most insightful. I have read books written by other survivors who were quite detailed of the living hell they too experienced. Her's is by far the most informative. She tells us a great deal. Her telling us of one of her friends who prostituted herself for food is but one example of the things she tells us about. Her expereicnes with the Girls' orchestra and what she experienced in the camp. But most interesting, her experiences with the murderers themselves. The infamous Marie Mandel whom she got to know quite well along with the brutal Joseph Kramer and the infamous Dr. Joseph Mengele who is the embodiementof pure evil. She even tells us of her encounter with the dread SS grandmaster Heinrich Himmler in one of his visits and inspections of the death camp and its murder machinery.

A must read for any scholor of this period or anyone who wants to know what happened here.

This is an extremely interesting book. In addition to receiving information about the concentration camp's music, the women's perspective adds to the interest. It contributes to my research tremendously.

The story has been known for many years, but this book puts in focus, by a survivor, the insanity of a lesser known action then the case at Auschwitz. A well told personal experience by someone willing to put down for history something that needed to be said. No matter how many years I've studied, and the many survivors I've known who have shared fragments, this clear telling in print for generations to come is a treasure.

I enjoyed reading this book, even though the content is difficult to comprehend with all of the horrors of Auschwitz/Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen. According to several orchestra members, a good portion of Fania's "memoirs" is inaccurate, which I think is a shame. This was brought to light in the book Alma Rose: From Vienna to Auschwitz. I would recommend reading both Playing for Time and Alma Rose: From Vienna to Auschwitz to get a better picture of what life was like for the orchestra. I was also very disappointed to read Fania's degrading names she used for the Polish prisoners, which sadly shows her racist views.

I can't believe it!!! I have ordered from Amazon for years and NEVER have I ever NEVER received my product. Giving this company the benefit of the doubt they were courtious when email mailing me. I went to the post office here locally at the request of the seller and there is no record. So frustrated. Alittle disappointed they would not expedite my order. Received email today and they rec'd the book back non deliverable due to address. So hard to believe when i have ordered with same address for years.....