A roman catholic arrested for her tenuous association with someone distributing antinazi materials, she endured much hardship and suffering at auschwitz but, unlike the jewish prisoners, was spared execution, though on two occasions she avoided that fate owing to intervention. Her autobiographical account of the holocaust in occupied poland passenger from cabin 45 became the basis for her 1962 novel passenger, subsequently translated. She is best known for her 1959 autobiography passenger in cabin 45 pasazerka z kabiny 45 which led to a television play and film the passenger by andrzej munk, who was one of the most influential artists of the poststalinist poland. Zofia posmyszs personal pain is behind the passenger the new. Posmysz went on writing continuously for over 30 years and wrote her last published book at the age of 73.
Lizas equilibrium becomes unbalanced when she catches a glimpse of one of the passengers. Polish cultural institute new york winter spring 2015 brochure. If there is a single person who lives to write poetry after auschwitz, it is she. The passenger on auschwitz, her book, and weinbergs opera. Zofia posmyszs personal pain is behind the passenger the. The passenger by zofia posmysz in yekaterinburg behind. The opera is based on a radio play and novel by the polish writer zofia posmysz, who survived auschwitz. It was the first of four books whose themes were centred around the nazi death camps 1st edition 1962. Jul 10, 2014 zofia posmysz s work the passenger in cabin 45 was the basis for an opera at the lincoln center festival. Zofia posmysz s original novel was based on her own experiences at auschwitz, and weinbergs family perished. During 19421945 she was a prisoner at auschwitzbirkenau. Jan 30, 2014 the libretto is based on a book by the polish writer zofia posmysz, adapted from her radio play passenger in cabin 45, in which, years after world war ii, a former auschwitz overseer travelling on. The first literary portrayal of concentration camp realities and the holocaust from the pointofview of the perpetrators. Zofia posmysz has 12 books on goodreads with 584 ratings.
Passenger in cabin 45 pasazerka z kabiny 45 authors. One is andrzej munks film the passenger, released in unfinished form after the director died in. Jul 06, 2014 unsparing, angular and direct, the passenger, based on a radio play and novel by the polish camp survivor zofia posmysz who is now 90 and will be in new york for panel discussions tied. Zofia posmyszs personal pain is behind the passenger. It was premiered by musicians of the stanislavsky theatre in the svetlanov hall of the moscow international house of music on december 25, 2006, in a semistaging conducted by wolf gorelik. One of the prisoners working on cleaning the banks of the sola river managed to escape and in retaliation zofia posmysz s whole subcamp of some 200 people was sent to a. The passenger is based on the 1961 novel by zofia posmysz, which depicts her own experiences as an auschwitz prisoner. Passenger has been called one of the most audacious fictions ever made. Pasazerka by zofia posmysz book chrystus oswiecimski by zofia posmysz book the passenger.
The novel was translated from polish into hungarian, 1963, czech 1964, russian 1964, bulgarian 1965, slovak 1965, latvian 1966, lithuanian 1966, moldovan 1966, romanian 1967, german 1969, japanese 1971, ukrainian 1972 and. Zofia posmysz photographed at the english national operas the coliseum theatre. Pasazerka 9788364980954 by zofia posmysz and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. The passenger is adapted from a 1962 radio play by polish author and auschwitz survivor, zofia posmysz. Feb 25, 2015 author zofia posmysz visits the set of the passenger at the civic opera house in chicago. Survivors auschwitz memories reborn in the passenger chicago.
Early on, weinbergs friend dmitri shostakovich proclaimed the opera a masterpiece and sought to use all of his influence to bring it to the stage in. Author zofia posmysz visits the set of the passenger at the civic opera house in chicago. Pasazerka the passenger programme book by ubc opera. Mar 31, 2014 perhaps it should come as no surprise that zofia posmysz, the woman who survived auschwitz and lived on to write about it, is the only surviving member of the original creators of the passenger. In next weeks issue of the new yorker i will have a column about mieczyslaw weinbergs holocaust opera the passenger, which has recently been released on bluray video and will open at english national opera on september 19th. Because posmysz was a roman catholic, she did not face the same fate as. Zbigniew bzdak chicago tribune zofia posmysz never will forget the moment. In september 2016, the premiere of the opera the passenger pasazerka by mieczyslaw weinberg will take place at the ekaterinburg state academic opera and ballet zofia posmysz talks about the passenger on vimeo. Passazhirka is a 1968 opera by mieczyslaw weinberg to a russian libretto by alexander medvedev wikidata. The passengers journey from auschwitz to the opera. Aug 21, 2010 some of his works were not even performed in russia, and the most infamous of these must surely be his first opera, the passenger passazhirka.
The novel takes place over two days on a luxury ocean liner. The passenger a striking opera about the holocaust the star. Written in 1967, with libretto from alexander medvedev, the opera is fashioned from the book by zofia posmysz, which in turn is based upon her own experiences. Jan 26, 2017 the exhibition is part of the programme accompanying the premiere of the opera the passenger at the musiktheater im revier in gelsenkirchen. This gives the passenger such potent extramusical experience that. Because posmysz was a roman catholic, she did not face the same fate as her jewish inmates, but she did nonetheless suffer brutality at the hands of the nazis and witness scenes of unimaginable horror. The novel the passenger was the first literary portrayal of concentration camp realities and the holocaust from the pointofview of the perpetrators. Posmysz proceeded to write a radio play called passenger in cabin 45, which describes such an incident from the opposite perspective. The book appeared in 1962 and served mieczyslaw weinberg as the source material for the opera of the same name. Weinbergs parents and a sister were killed by the nazis, and the semiautobiographical story of zofia posmysz was the perfect vehicle into which to pour his suffering.
The fame of the passenger somewhat overshadowed the other important works of zofia posmysz including the novels holiday on the adriatic, microclimate and the price, the stories already mentioned and many radio plays, scripts and works on contemporary themes. As it happens, today is posmysz s eightyeighth birthday, and we wish her many happy returns. Zofia posmysz has books on goodreads with 596 ratings. Survivors auschwitz memories reborn in the passenger zofia posmysz never will forget the moment. She worked through her experiences in the concentration camps in the novella the passenger. Mieczyslaw weinberg the passenger peermusic classical 3 the passenger mieczyslaw weinberg composed his opera the passenger in 1968, based on a novel by auschwitz survivor zofia posmysz. The exhibition focuses on those works of zofia posmysz that relate to concentration camps. It was the first of four books whose themes were centred around the. She is best known for her 1959 autobiography passenger in cabin 45 pasazerka z kabiny 45 which led to a television play and film the passenger by andrzej.
Based on the novel the passenger pasazerka 1962 by zofia posmysz. It was the germ of her first radio play, the passenger in cabin 45, broadcast to such acclaim in poland that she turned it into a novel, published. Author, screenwriter and writer for radio and televised theatre performances, reporter and broadcast radio editor. After six weeks in prison zofia posmysz was sent on the 30th of may 1942 to the womens section of the main camp at auschwitz, but she was there only a short while.
Survivors auschwitz memories reborn in the passenger. The account of the christ from auschwitz, an elaboration of one of the episodes in the passenger is without doubt one of the most important elements of the testimony given by the life of this outstanding author, and extraordinary woman. The passenger, opera based on novel by a catholic death camp survivor and composed by a polish jew comes to britain at last. Lisa, a former aufseherin, or auschwitz overseer, is travelling with her husband on an ocean liner when she sees a solitary passenger who appears to be marta, a prisoner from the camp. She was a resistance fighter in world war ii and survived imprisonment at the auschwitz and ravensbruck concentration camps. Posmysz appears at the end of performances and is deservedly applauded, for she symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, values we all want to believe in. An auschwitz survivor tells her story through music. She wrote the radio play passenger from cabin 45 in 1959 from the perspective of her nazi prison guard, anneliese franz.
The plot is based on the novel passenger, and the 1959 polish radio play the passenger from cabin number 45, by polish journalist, author and wwii resistance fighter zofia posmysz. Aug 29, 2011 the story of the passengerin which a former auschwitz guard, travelling on an ocean liner with her husband, sees a fellow passenger whom she believes to be an exprisoner of the campcomes from. Books by zofia posmysz author of pasazerka goodreads. Jan 27, 2017 the exhibition focuses on those works of zofia posmysz that relate to concentration camps. Sep 08, 2011 at this fertile moment, the polish writer zofia posmysz s novel pasazerka the passenger appeared in the soviet publication stralny literatura. The radio play the passenger in cabin 45 was produced in 1959, and its novel version the passenger three years later. Passenger has been called one of the most audacious fictions ever made about the. Suppressed for more than 40 years, weinbergs gripping opera has emerged anew, electrifying audiences at austrias bregenz festival and again in warsaw and london. Written by concentration camp survivor zofia posmysz, who was arrested in poland in 1942 at age 16 and sent to auschwitz for attending secret educational classes organized by the polish underground. Weinbergs the passenger, a synopsis ians music blog. Apr 08, 2016 the work was finally performed in a concert version in moscow in 2006 and onstage in bregenz in 2010.
The passenger is what won acclaim for zofia posmysz. The passenger by zofia posmysz in yekaterinburg behind the. You need multiregion palntsc dvd player to view it in usacanada. Apr 28, 2015 the novel the passenger, by former auschwitz prisoner zofia posmysz inspired the opera of the same name and posmysz was recently able to tell her story at a performance of the passenger in. This photograph was sent to me by aleksander laskowski, who translated my book the rest is noise into polish. Sep 05, 2011 posmysz s play, which she then turned into a novel, inspired two remarkable adaptations. Pasazerka is a 1962 novel by zofia posmysz, which originated from a radio drama passenger from cabin number 45, written in 1959. Irena malkiewicz, izabella olszewska, krzysztof winiewicz, andrzej munk, witold lesiewicz, zofia dwornik, andrzej munk, zofia posmysz. In 1942, the then 18yearold zofia posmysz was arrested by the gestapo in krakow while distributing leaflets. After the war, she wrote about her experiences in the. Premiered in semistaged version, at the international auditorium of moscow on the 25th of december, 2006, and in full stage at the bregenz frestival on the 21st of july, 2010. Florida grand opera presents the passenger knight foundation. The exhibition is part of the programme accompanying the premiere of the opera the passenger at the musiktheater im revier in gelsenkirchen.
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