Casimir Oberfeld (16 November 1903 – January 1945), also spelled Kazimierz Oberfeld, was a Polish-born French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He worked on many

film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

and also wrote popular songs of the 1920s and 1930s. Following France's invasion by Germany in 1940 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

Oberfeld faced increasing persecution. Having taken shelter in Italian-occupied

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

he was arrested when the area was taken over by the Germans. He was sent to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

where he was murdered in January 1945.

Career

The music of the patriotic song of Nazi-collaborationist

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

Maréchal, nous voilà ! "Maréchal, nous voilà !" ("Marshal, here we are!") is a 1941 French song dedicated to Marshal Philippe Pétain. The lyrics were composed by André Montagard; its music was attributed to André Montagard and Charles Courtioux but actually plagi ...

", while credited to André Montagnard and Charles Courtioux, was in fact

plagiarised Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

from a work by OberfeldMould p.59 called "." Nathalie Dompnier, « Entre ''La Marseillaise'' et ''Maréchal, nous voilà !'' quel hymne pour le régime de Vichy ? », dans Myriam Chimènes (dir.), ''La vie musicale sous Vichy'', Éditions Complexe – IRPMF-CNRS, coll. « Histoire du temps présent », 2001, p. 71

Selected filmography

* ''

The Sweetness of Loving ''The Sweetness of Loving'' (French: ''La douceur d'aimer'') is a 1930 French comedy film directed by René Hervil and starring Victor Boucher, Renée Devillers and Henri Bosc.Rège p.328 Cast * Victor Boucher as Albert Dumontier * Renée Devil ...

'' (1930) * ''

The Man in Evening Clothes ''The Man in Evening Clothes'' (French:''Un homme en habit'') is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by René Guissart and starring Fernand Gravey, Diana and Suzy Vernon.Goble p.800 It was made by the French subsidiary of Paramount ...

'' (1931) * ''

The Triangle of Fire ''The Triangle of Fire'' (French: ''Le triangle de feu'') is a 1932 French-German crime film directed by Edmond T. Gréville and Johannes Guter and starring Jean Angelo, André Roanne and Elisabeth Pinajeff.Crisp p.396 Cast * Jean Angelo as L'in ...

'' (1932) * ''

Antoinette Antoinette is a given name, that is a diminutive feminine form of Antoine and Antonia (from Latin ''Antonius''). People with the name include: Nobles * Antoinette de Maignelais, Baroness of Villequier by marriage (1434–1474), mistress of Ch ...

'' (1932) * ''

The Regiment's Champion ''The Regiment's Champion'' (French:'' Le champion du régiment'') is a 1932 French comedy film directed by Henry Wulschleger and starring Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque p ...

'' (1932) * '' The Blaireau Case'' (1932) * '' The Porter from Maxim's'' (1933) * ''

The Uncle from Peking ''The Uncle from Peking'' (French: ''L'oncle de Pékin'') is a 1934 French comedy film directed by Jacques Darmont and starring Armand Bernard, Janine Merrey and Pierre Brasseur.Rège p.285 The film's sets were designed by the art director Aim� ...

'' (1934) * '' Rigolboche'' (1936) * ''

A Legionnaire ''A Legionnaire'' (French: ''Un de la légion'') is a 1936 French comedy adventure film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Fernandel, Robert Le Vigan and Daniel Mendaille.Andrews p.355 The film's sets were designed by the art director P ...

'' (1936) * ''

You Can't Fool Antoinette ''You Can't Fool Antoinette'' (French: ''On ne roule pas Antoinette'') is a 1936 French comedy film directed by Paul Madeux and starring Armand Bernard, Paul Pauley and Simone Renant.Goble p.894 The film's sets were designed by the art directors ...

'' (1936) * ''

Excursion Train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

'' (1936) * '' Street of Shadows'' (1937) * ''

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

'' (1938) * ''

Barnabé Barnabé is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Persons *Arrigo Barnabé (born 1951), Brazilian musician and an actor *Barnabé Brisson (1531–1591), French jurist and politician *Barnabé Brisson (engineer) (17 ...

'' (1938) * ''

Tricoche and Cacolet ''Tricoche and Cacolet'' (French: ''Tricoche et Cacolet'') is a 1938 French comedy film directed by Pierre Colombier and starring Fernandel, Frédéric Duvallès and Ginette Leclerc.Ginibre, Lithgow & Cady p.97 It is based on an 1872 play of the ...

'' (1938) * '' The Porter from Maxim's'' (1939) * '' The Five Cents of Lavarede'' (1939) * ''

Monsieur Hector ''Monsieur Hector'' is a 1940 French musical comedy film based upon the play by Pierre de Marivaux, directed by Maurice Cammage and starring Fernandel, Denise Grey and Georges Grey.Quinlan p.178 It was shot at the Neuilly Studios in Paris. The f ...

'' (1940)

References

Bibliography

* Mould, Michael. ''The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French''. Taylor & Francis, 2011.

External links

*
Scores by Casimir Oberfeld
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

1903 births 1945 deaths People from Łowicz People from Warsaw Governorate Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust Polish emigrants to France Polish composers Polish people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp World War II refugees {{France-music-bio-stub