Dr. Kellie D. Brown
Milligan University Professor of Music Dr. Kellie D. Brown recently published “The Sound of Hope,” a nonfiction book released by McFarland Publishing, that reflects on how music provided solace, resistance and salvation during the Holocaust and World War II. But how did she become interested in this topic?
“As I look back on it, I can see how it was a long process of seeds being planted by different people, places, and pursuits. Of course, all of my years studying music since the age of 5, first piano then adding violin, played a major role. To fully understand how important music’s role is in the Holocaust first requires knowing personally how powerful music is in your own life, to have that drive and passion for it that you are willing to make the sacrifices that it takes to develop professional-level skills. There is also a necessary sense of realization that you can’t live your life without it; otherwise you would choose an easier and more lucrative profession.
“Then, when I was a freshman at Furman University, I chose to take German as my required language. I had an inspiring teacher, Dr. Jane Chew, who made me fall in love with that language, so I began to gravitate toward German history. Then one day in the early ‘90s, this all came together when I was browsing in a used bookstore in Johnson City, Tennessee, and I came across a historical novel called “Vienna Prelude” by Bodie Thoene. On the cover was the picture of a violinist and in the background were Nazi flags flying. It was through this introduction to the plight of musicians during the Holocaust that I began to research this topic,” she says.
Her research started about 15 years ago and focused primarily on Alma Rosé, the niece of Gustav Mahler. She was a well-known concert violinist in Vienna who was sent to Auschwitz where she was forced to conduct an orchestra of women prisoners. In researching Alma Rosé, Brown uncovered the stories of other persecuted musicians and how the power of music impacted their lives.
“I began writing articles about her and this orchestra, and giving presentations around the country on that subject. Then, I began to look at the stories of other people and other camps and ghettos. I decided on writing a book about six years ago and dove in with the research and writing. So, it’s been an extensive, and at times, consuming project. It has been very emotional for me. I decided a long time ago that if I ever got to the point that I could tell their stories and not weep, then it would be time to move on. I want to bear witness and honor their memories.”
Brown traced the stories of various musicians through scholarly literature, diaries, letters, memoirs, compositions and art pieces. In connecting historical events with personal narratives, Brown sought to provide greater context to a pivotal time in history.
“Jazz, Yiddish folk music, popular music of the day and classical music, among others, all feature in the stories I relate in the book. It is also not limited to either vocal or instrumental music. Both figure prominently. Classical music, however, makes up a considerable percentage of the book because the lives of the people I am highlighting were predominately composers, conductors and professional performers.
“Music is incredibly powerful. That is the ultimate premise of my book. So, it can be used to uplift and comfort, and it can also be used to manipulate and deceive. The Nazis were quite effective in their use of music as a weapon, forcing prisoners to perform to entertain the SS in concentration camps. They also used music as a practical means to cover the sounds of screaming during torture. It was also used as psychological manipulation as musicians were forced to play near gas chambers and convoy arrivals to create an appearance that ‘all was well’ for the new arrivals.
“Music was used as part of a meticulously conceived plan to deceive the Red Cross contingent who came to inspect the Terezín concentration camp. The Red Cross representatives were treated to numerous staged concerts by prisoners who were dressed up to look like they were faring well, while all the while, they were starving to death.
“But also, music featured prominently as a way to bring solace or spiritual resistance. People sang together in the cattle cars as they were transported to camps, and they sang together in defiance as they were being hauled into gas chambers. They sang or played or composed in defiance of a group of people (Nazis) who wanted to say that they did not matter, that they were subhuman and that their culture would be erased. Music served as salvation literally for many people who proved useful to the Nazis as musicians and so were kept alive and were able to see the liberation of their camps.
“I have also been able to talk with the only remaining survivor from the Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz and have been able to interview and meet family members of other Holocaust survivors. Establishing relationships with them has been life changing for me.”
Her book mainly covers the Holocaust and the plight of Jewish musicians and others who assisted them. It also includes some other stories during World War II. One examines the great composer Shostakovich as he wrote his Seventh Symphony, the Leningrad Symphony, as a patriotic anthem for his fellow Russians during the siege of Leningrad. There is another chapter that discusses the formation of a vocal orchestra in a concentration camp on the island of Sumatra, where hundreds of women and children (mostly Dutch and English colonials) were captured by the Japanese after they tried to flee from their homes in Malay, Java, and Singapore.
Brown studied violin performance and music education at Furman University and East Tennessee State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in music education. She also holds a master’s degree in violin performance from Appalachian State University and a doctoral degree in higher education administration, with an emphasis in music administration, from East Tennessee State University.
