The Passenger (Die Passagierin). *The Passenger* (1968; based on the book by Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz) is his best-known (aria-poor) work, based on an Auschwitz experience. The opera takes place on a cruise ship, where two former “inhabitants” of the Auschwitz concentration camp meet. One is Lisa, who worked as a guard in the camp and is now traveling to Brazil with her husband, a diplomat. The other is Marta, a Polish Jewish woman, who was imprisoned in Auschwitz when Lisa was a guard there; Marta’s fiancé, Tadeusz, is with her. The opera explores the emotions of the main characters on the ship in the present and, in flashbacks, in the concentration camp.
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