In Orchestra’s Program & Costumes, Echoes Of Auschwitz

A community orchestra in Woodstock, N.Y., “is, with its instrumentation, uniforms and repertory, emulating one of the best known of the concentration-camp ensembles: the Birkenau women’s orchestra of some 54 Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz from 1943 through 1945.” The program “is meant to be a poignant reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust and of how a group of women used music to survive. While this mission has been hailed by numerous Jewish groups, some survivors find it too poignant.”