> >Stanford researcher maps melodies used in Holocaust to control prisonersJuly >19th, 2012 in Other Sciences / Other >A digital rendering of the 'musical geography' of Auschwitz Camp II >(Birkenau). The red circles indicate where the 'forced music' played by guards >could be heard, while the blue circles illustrate how the 'voluntary music' of >the inmates spread throughout the camp. Credit: Melissa Kagen > > >It's hard to imagine Bing Crosby's classic ragtime song "Sweet Sue, Just You" >wafting through a Nazi German concentration camp. >But at Auschwitz-Birkenau – the most infamous Holocaust prison – a mix of >American jazz and ragtime classics, as well as somber hymns and marching >songs, could often be heard within the camp walls. >This strange medley of melodies has long intrigued Melissa Kagen, a doctoral >candidate in German Studies at Stanford. So last winter, Kagen began a >research project to examine the camp's musical culture in the context of >geographical space. >She wanted to know if where the music played in the camps – whether in the >kitchen, near a gate or in cells – had different effects on the inhabitants. >Using survivor testimonies and camp administration records, she is developing >digital maps of the "musical geography" of the prison. >By focusing on the spatial aspects of music, Kagen's research offers >historical insight into how music can be used as a means for controlling and >torturing prisoners in present-day detention facilities. >Because it was among the first prison camps to systematically employ music in >such a way, Auschwitz provides a valuable case study that sets a precedent for >facilities such as Guantánamo Bay where music has been used as a form of >"no-touch" torture. >Measuring music's impact >Scholars have long known that music was a regular part of life in Nazi >concentration camps. But the inherently transient nature of sound has made it >difficult to measure its impact on the camp and its inhabitants. >"Music in the Holocaust is a relatively well-explored research topic," said >Kagen, a student of modern German musicology and literature. "But because it >does not leave a lasting historical footprint, it has not been considered >spatially before." >Kagen uses an unconventional interpretation method to translate the source >material into a visual form. Rather than dwelling on the significance of a >specific song, she focuses on references about the locations where music was >heard. >"Reading the first-hand accounts of prisoners, I noticed that one particular >space – Block 24, near the camp entrance – kept coming up in relation to >music," she said. >Music, as Kagen discovered, provided a proportionally small number of prison >guards with the means to maintain control over large portions of the camp >without any actual physical presence. >Since sound travels by air, Kagen speculated that when music was played at >Auschwitz, it could easily occupy large spaces. Neither the barbed wire >fencing nor the thin brick or wooden walls of Auschwitz's barracks could >provide a sufficient protective barrier from the music for prisoners. >Kagen's maps illustrate this fluid nature of sound by superimposing >color-shaded areas of music onto a transparent infrastructure background, >thereby uncovering a prison landscape unseen until now. >It is a landscape in which divisions between public and private space cease to >exist almost entirely. >"The prisoners wished to die in peace, which is to say, they wanted the barest >hint of autonomy over the space in which they die," said Kagen. "But the >melodies of Bach, Beethoven and Horst Wessel, along with jazz songs, wrested >every last bit of space away from them." >Kagen's visualizations also illustrate that so-called "voluntary music," >played by inmates and marked in blue on the maps, provided inmates with some >measure of personal space and, by extension, a means for resistance. >The mosaic Kagen has drawn of competing red and blue areas corresponding to >"forced" and "voluntary" music underscores prisoners' success in challenging >German spatial control over the camp. >For brief moments of time, while the "voluntarily" played music filled the >air, prisoners could close their eyes and feel a certain sense of personal >space restored by the familiar – if fleeting – melodies of their own choosing. >Thus far, scholars have only been able to speculate about the magnitude of >prisoner resistance. Kagen's research enables researchers to visually assess >questions of where, when and how resistance was mounted by Auschwitz inmates. >"Trying to understand what these camps must have sounded like is a vital way >that scholars can see connections between what's happened recently at >Guantánamo and what happened then at Auschwitz-Birkenau," Kagen said. >Mapping music >The task of creating a visible representation of a largely invisible medium >presented a unique challenge for Kagen, who began her research with little >experience in digital media. >An interdisciplinary team of historians, geographers and graphic design >specialists from Stanford's Spatial History Project trained Kagen in >cartographic design and digital mapmaking. >The trick, she learned, was to keep the images as simple as possible. Two >colors – red and blue – corresponding to "forced" and "voluntary" music >prevent viewers from becoming distracted by the camp's traditional spatial >boundaries such as roads, fences and buildings. >Each map also includes digital recordings of the songs in question. By >hovering over certain areas of the map viewers can listen to one of 24 musical >excerpts of tunes that were known to have been played in the camp. >However, Kagen warned that due to the nature of her sources, viewers are >advised not to read her maps too literally. It is difficult, for instance, to >estimate the volume, location and frequency of a musical performance, >particularly when such information is derived from survivors' testimonies >given years after the event. >Additionally, the recordings were produced by modern-day musicians and, as a >result, do not accurately reflect the actual performances conducted in the >camp. >Kagen said she expects her maps to draw more extensive scrutiny and criticism, >mainly because they try to replicate the sensory environment of a highly >charged and emotional subject. Yet she says experiencing the sounds of >Auschwitz is an imperative first step to asking the right questions – both >about the past and the present. >More information: humanexperience.stanford.edu/ > >Provided by Stanford University >"Stanford researcher maps melodies used in Holocaust to control prisoners." >July 19th, >2012. http://phys.org/news/2012-07-stanford-melodies-holocaust-prisoners.html > > > > >
