Soviet troops liberated the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27 January 1945. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the last surviving member of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, owes her survival to being a cellist for the camp orchestra during her teenage years.
In a BBC interview on 15 April 1945, after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen death camp, Lasker-Wallfisch, then 19, expressed concern that the world might not fully grasp the atrocities of Auschwitz: "The few who have survived are afraid that the world will not believe what happened there."
She recalled the chilling selection process upon arrival at the camps and the heart-wrenching separation from her parents in April 1942. Despite facing significant adversity, including imprisonment for attempting escape, Lasker-Wallfisch found solace in the relative safety of prison compared to the concentration camps.
Upon her transfer to Auschwitz in 1943, her music skills saved her from an uncertain fate when she joined the Women's Orchestra. Orchestrated by Alma Rosé, the group played music to accompany the comings and goings of prisoners. Rosé's leadership instilled a temporary respite from the harsh reality of camp life as the musicians played on instruments acquired from previous inmates.
Despite the harsh conditions at Belsen, where the orchestra disbanded and disease and starvation prevailed, Lasker-Wallfisch reflected on how music provided a semblance of humanity in an inhumane environment.