Anita Lasker-Wallfisch had a lucky moment while being processed at the Sauna in Auschwitz-Birkenau. One of the girls processing her asked her what she did prior to landing in that place of unspeakable horror. “I played the cello,” she answered. That surreal conversation, not far from the gas chambers at Birkenau, would save her life. As a member of the Auschwitz women's orchestra, playing the cello meant respite from heavy labor.
June 18 saw the U.S. premiere of a set of piano variations on a Polish patriotic theme composed in the Dachau concentration camp by prisoner of war Leon Kaczmarek (1903–1973). Kaczmarek’s composition was performed by 17-year-old pianist Nicholas Biniaz-Harris, winner of the National Symphony Orchestra’s 2013 Young Soloists’ Competition.
This set of clips from the Institute's archive showcases survivors before the camera performing music that helped sustain them during the Holocaust.