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Auschwitz museum obtains baton of camp orchestra’s conductor

By iNFOTEL
April 22 2025 04:54 AM

CP762061723 — In this Oct. 24, 2018 photo publicly provided by the Museum of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz Birkenau is seen the wood-and-ivory baton of Franciszek Nierychlo, Auschwitz prisoner and controversial organizer and first conductor of the inmates\' orchestra, in Oswiecim, Poland. The band was ironically designed by the Nazis as a diversion for the cruelly-treated prisoners, but it also helped protect its musicians. The baton was recently obtained by the museum from a private person. (Museum of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz Birkenau/Marcin Inglot via AP)

WARSAW, Poland – The Auschwitz museum has obtained a new relic from the death camp Nazi Germany operated during World War II: the baton of the inmate orchestra’s conductor.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum spokesman Bartosz Bartyzel said Wednesday the wood-and-ivory baton with a plaque reading “F. Nierychlo 1940 (A)” was obtained from a private individual.

Franciszek Nierychlo, a musician, was brought to Auschwitz in June 1940 in a transport of Polish prisoners and made the Nazis’ supervising “kapo” in the camp kitchen. According to the museum, survivors described him as cruel and co-operative with the Germans.

The orchestra Nierychlo organized on Nazi orders played lively tunes while Auschwitz inmates were maltreated. The museum said it helped save musicians, who received more food and had better conditions.

Some 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, perished in Auschwitz.

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