us-005578-irn35932-irn44135
type: RecordSet
archival history: The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Sonia Beker, the daughter of Fania Durmashkin Beker.
biographical history: Fania Durmashkin (Durmaszkin) was born on October 13, 1921, in Vilna, Poland (Vilnius, Lithuania) to Akiva, born in Kiev, Russia, in 1887, and Sheine, born in 1890. Akiva had been director of the Odessa Orchestra and was a cantor and composer; his brother Leo was painter. Fania had two siblings, Wolf, born in 1914, and Fania, born in 1924. The family was active in the synagogue and the children received both Jewish and musical educations and were fluent in several languages. Fania studied piano and Henia studied voice at the Vilna conservatory. Wolf was a child prodigy on the piano. He studied at the Vilna and Warsaw Conservatories, and while a young man, became the conductor of the Vilna Symphony Orchestra. In September 1939, western Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany. Eastern Poland, where Vilna was located, was occupied by the Soviet Union. In October, control of the city was given to Lithuania. Rioting Poles and Lithuanians looted Jewish businesses. In June, the Soviet reclaimed the city. In 1940, Henia was the only Jew accepted into the Vilna City Choir. Then in June 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union and occupied Vilna. Shortly before and after the invasion, Lithuanians carried out violent riots against the Jews. Then came detachments of German Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units), which with Lithuanian auxiliaries, murdered thousands of Jews. By the end of the summer, all the Jews were forced to move to a ghetto. The Germans allowed Wolf to leave the ghetto to continue as conductor of the Vilna Orchestra. Wolf also started a symphony orchestra and a Hebrew choir in the ghetto; both sisters were members. The first concert was March 1, 1942; the last on August 29, 1943. Life in the ghetto was torturous. Since the summer of 1942, the Germans had been taking groups out to the Ponary forest and shooting them, beginning with children and the elderly. A girl who escaped one round-up returned and told the residents what was done there. In summer 1943, the Germ…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular text only poster on light brown paper with black and red ink and Polish text announcing a dance and music performance.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1949 June 16
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: pol
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn44135
is or was included in: us-005578-irn35932
record resource extent: overall: Height: 24.500 inches (62.23 cm) | Width: 30.375 inches (77.153 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Broadside preserved by Fania Durmashkin advertising a performance by the Venus (Wenery) Durmaszkin (Henny) and a student ballet and folk dance ensemble in the American zone of occupation in postwar Germany. It was to be held on June 16, 1949, at 7:30 pm in the Mining House. Members of the St. Ottilien displaced persons orchestra, also known as the ex-concentration camp orchestra, or orchestra of survivors, were also on the program. From 1945-1948, this group performed Yiddish and Hebrew music and classical works in wartorn cities in the US and British zones. Henia, a folk and opera singer, and her sister Fania, a pianist, were the only survivors of a well known musical family from Vilna, Poland (Vilnius, Lithuania). The city, occupied by Germany in summer 1941, was destroyed in late summer 1943. The sisters were sent to labor camps, first to Kaiserwald, then to Dinawerke, Stutthof, Dachau, and Landsberg. As Allied forces closed in, the inmates were sent on a death march. One day, the guards ran away and the prisoners were liberated on May 1, 1945, by US troops. Fania and Henia were relocated to a hospital in the St. Ottilien displaced persons camp. In 1948, Fania married a fellow musician and survivor, Max Beker, and, with Henia, they emigrated to the United States.
title: Text only poster for a performance by St. Ottilien DP orchestra