Anita Lasker-Wallfisch
Acting
Biography
Anita Lasker-Wallfisch is a German born Jewish cellist and a surviving member of the Women's Orchestra in Auschwitz. She and her sister Renate were sent to Auschwitz in December 1943 on separate prison trains. During the Belsen Trial which took place from September to November 1945 Anita testified against among others the camp commandant Josef Kramer, camp doctor Fritz Klein and deputy camp commandant Franz Hössler who were all sentenced to death and hanged that year.
Born: July 17, 1925
Place of Birth: Wrocław, Poland
Known For
Music, War and Revolution
Understanding how the musical world was impacted by the World War I.
The Last Musician of Auschwitz
Tells the extraordinary story of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch who, along with other victims of Auschwitz, played and created music amidst the terrors of the Holocaust.
The Last Survivors
Documentary compiling the testimonies of the last remaining Holocaust survivors living in Britain, all of whom were children at the time, and following them over the course of a year as they embark upon personal and profound journeys.
The Commandant's Shadow
While Hans Jurgen Höss enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is the historic and inspiring moment – eight decades later – when the two come face-to-face. This is the first time the descendant of a major war criminal meets a survivor in such a private and intimate setting, Anita’s London living room. Together with their children, Kai Höss and Maya Lasker-Wallfisch, the four protagonists explore their very different hereditary burdens.
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
The story of Alice Herz-Sommer, a German-speaking Jewish pianist from Prague who was, at her death, the world's oldest Holocaust survivor. She discusses the importance of music, laughter, and how to have an optimistic outlook on life.
Belsen: Our Story
Survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp eloquently and movingly tell of their experiences of deportation, family destruction, and their own survival, together with the history of its place in the Nazi death camp system and its liberation by the British army in April 1945.
Warwick Davis and the Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz
The actor, Warwick Davis, presents the story of the Owicz family and their ordeal during WWII. From a successful musical act to being tortuously experimented on by Dr. Josef Mengele in a concentration camp. This story might have been lost to history if it weren't for the family's diminutive size, which made them both a novelty as well as an inspiration.
Music Under the Swastika - The Maestro and the Cellist of Auschwitz
The stories of Jewish cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Auschwitz, and of star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who worked with the Nazis, provide insight. The film centers around two people who represent musical culture during the Third Reich - albeit in very different ways. Wilhelm Furtwängler was a star conductor; Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the cellist of the infamous Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. Both shared a love for the classical German music.
We Want the Light
The struggles of the world’s Jewish people over the course of several centuries are expressed and explored through the music they inspired in this documentary from the BBC and Opus Arte. We Want the Light brings together harrowing tales from Holocaust survivors with performances of music by such legendary composers as Mahler, Bach, Mendelssohn, and Brahms. Interviews with: Alice Sommer Herz, Jacques Stroumsa, Evgeny Kissin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zubin Mehta, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Toby Perlman, Michael Haas, Elyakim Ha’etzni, Norman Lebrecht, Margaret Brearley, Paul Lawrence Rose, Daniel Barenboim, Yirmiyahu Yovel, Uri Toeplitz & Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Featuring: Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Cologne Cathedral Children’s Choir & Cologne Opera Chorus.
Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
Yo-Yo Ma narrates a documentary about the remarkable cellist Jacqueline du Pré, whose life and career were cut short by multiple sclerosis.
Filmography
as Self
as Self - Survivor
as Holocaust Survivor
as Self
as Self - Concentration Camp Survivor
as Self
as Self