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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><div><p class=MsoNormal>In conjunction with the A&M-Commerce Globalization Conference the Department of Music is pleased to host Dr. Edward Hafer, Associate Professor of Music History at The University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Hafer will present his paper <em>Cabaret and the Art of Survival at the Concentration Camp Westerbork</em> on Friday, Nov. 16, at 8:00am in the Finney Concert Hall, Music Building. This event is free and open to the public.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><strong>Cabaret and the Art of Survival at the Concentration Camp Westerbork</strong><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><em>Dr. Edward Hafer, Associate Professor of Music History</em><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><em>The University of Southern Mississippi</em><i><br></i><br>In 1942, the German government assumed control of the Dutch refugee camp Westerbork and turned it into a way station through which Jews captured in the Netherlands would pass before being deported to the eastern death camps. Among the prisoners were prominent actors and musicians who had been stars of the Berlin cabaret scene before the Nazis banned Jews from the German stage in the 1930s. From 1943 to 1944, these performers, led by Max Ehrlich, Willy Rosen, and Erich Ziegler, organized a series of six cabarets for their captors and fellow prisoners. The shows included short skits, music, comedy, and dancing. Before long, the Theater Gruppe Westerbork was hailed as one of the finest cabarets in Europe.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Documentary evidence suggests that these performances were not merely intended for general merriment. Albert Konrad Gemmeker, the camp commandant and staunch supporter of the theater group, considered the productions a status symbol that earned him prestige in the eyes of Nazi officials in the Hague. He granted special privileges to his star performers, and, in turn, the cabarets grew ever more elaborate. Organizers sought to involve as many contributors as possible in hopes that their participation might spare them from the weekly transports to the death camps. Dr. Hafer's presentation will consider the oddly symbiotic relationship between the performers and the camp commandant and document the prisoners’ concerted effort to use the productions to curry favor with camp leadership as an act of survival. He will also give an overview of the performances themselves and consider contemporary reactions to the cabarets, including those of fellow prisoners who objected to seemingly light-hearted entertainment set amidst a backdrop of death and uncertainty. The presentation will include images, music, and video from actual Westerbork productions.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><br> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>