Fania Fénelon, 74; Memoirs Described Auschwitz Singing

In “Playing for Time,” she recounted how singing in an all-female orchestra while in a concentration camp saved her from death.Fania Fénelon in the 1930s.Credit...Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/AlamyFeb. 17, 2026, 4:27 p.m. ETThis obituary was originally published on Dec. 22, 1983. It is being republished for a package for Women’s History Month. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.Fania Fénelon, whose memoir of her experiences singing in the inmate orchestra at Auschwitz was made into a controversial television movie, died of cancer Tuesday in the Kremlin Bicêtre Hospital in Paris. She was 74 years old.Miss Fénelon’s memoir, “Playing for Time,” described how she was saved from death in the Nazi concentration camp by being chosen to sing in the all-female orchestra. The orchestra, conducted by Alma Rosé, a neice of Gustav Mahler, gave concerts for 11 months in 1944 under orders of the SS, even performing for Heinrich Himmler.The memoir was published in France in 1976 and in the United States the following year. The television movie, from Arthur Miller’s screenplay, sparked protests from Jewish groups in the United States and abroad after Vanessa Redgrave was cast as Miss Fénelon.ImageMiss Fénelon in 1981. Her memoir was published in France in 1976.Credit...United Archives/Getty ImagesImageMiss Fénelon’s memoir was made into a controversial television movie.Credit...Bertrand Laforêt/Gamma-Rapho, via Getty ImagesThe protestors objected to Miss Redgrave’s support of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Miss Fénelon herself came to the United States to criticize CBS-TV for what she said was its insensitivity in broadcasting the movie with Miss Redgrave in it.At the time of her death, Miss Fénelon was at work on a new book recounting her experiences after the liberation. She is survived by her brothers, Leonide Goldstein, professor of psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and Michele Goldstein, a retired businessman in Paris. A memorial service is to be scheduled.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store