Notes From the Fire: The Journey of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch can be heard on The Lyric Feature at 7pm next Friday night, April 10, on RTÉ lyric fm.
On January 27 1945 the Soviet army entered Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp complex and liberated approximately seven thousand prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying.
It is estimated that between 1940 and 1945 the camp authorities had murdered over a million people. For this programme commemorating the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation, Paul Herriott travelled to Auschwitz and to London to meet the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch.
The distinguished musician was a founder member of the English Chamber Orchestra and for two years between 1943 and 1945 she was an inmate and member of the women’s orchestra in the concentration camp.
Paul Herriott's profoundly moving documentary was first broadcast in 2011. Paul is the host of The Lyric Concert Monday to Friday, which commences at 8pm each evening on the music station.
In the Holocaust Memorial Day clip below, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch talks to Stephen Fry.
