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The Last Musician of Auschwitz tells the extraordinary story of cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, along with other victims of the camp - Jews, Poles and Roma - who played and created music amidst the terrors of the Holocaust.
Together they show how, amid the most brutal and dehumanising situations, music could be a lifeline, a way to give testimony and even a means of resistance.
The film examines the SS’s perverse relationship with music—forcing prisoners to perform for their entertainment and accompany slave labourers, turning art into another form of torture. It also celebrates three other remarkable musicians – Ilse Weber, Szymon Laks, and Adam Kopyciński – whose compositions are brought to life in moving performances by contemporary artists, including Anita’s son Raphael Wallfisch.
Filmed in locations surrounding Auschwitz, these deeply emotional performances explore themes of loss, memory, and resilience. Through this innovative approach, the documentary illuminates music’s extraordinary power to preserve humanity in its darkest hour – offering not just testimony to suffering, but a profound spark of hope and defiance that continues to resonate today.