Because the camp symphony required a cello player, Jewish girl Anita Lasker was able to survive there.
The last surviving member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz is Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who is currently 99 years old. On April 15, 1945, the day of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen extermination camp, where she had been moved six months previously, she was interviewed by the news at the age of 19. “First, I would like to say a few words about Auschwitz,” she stated during an interview in German, the language she was raised speaking. The few survivors fear that the world won’t accept what transpired there.
She went on: “When the transports arrived, a commander and a doctor were standing on the ramp, and sorting was carried out in front of us. This indicates that they inquired about the new arrivals’ age and health. The gullible immigrants often signed their death sentences by disclosing any illnesses. They specifically targeted the elderly and children. Left, right, left, right. Life was to the right, and the chimney was to the left.
