Auschwitz Survivor's Music Saved Her Life: New Documentary Explores Complicated Legacy
The story behind the Oscar-winning film *Zone of Interest
has been adapted into a powerful new documentary, *The Commandant's Shadow*. Released in July 2024, the film follows Hans-Jurgen Höss, the son of Rudolf Höss, who served as commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1945. During this period, an estimated 2.5 million people perished within the camp's walls.
A central element of the documentary is the meeting between Höss and 98-year-old German-British cellist and Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Lasker-Wallfisch's survival is attributed in part to her musical talents. As she explains in the film, "When I arrived in Auschwitz, there was a band that needed a cellist. We played for the guards. It absolutely saved my life." The musicians would perform marches in the camps to entertain the guards.
Lasker-Wallfisch's daughter Maya, a psychotherapist, also features in the documentary, and meets with Höss's son, Kai. Lasker-Wallfisch is also the mother of acclaimed British cellist Raphael Wallfisch.
Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was born into a German-Jewish family in 1925 in Breslau (now WrocÅaw, Poland). She began playing cello at a young age, performing chamber music with her two sisters. Despite successfully fleeing to England in 1939, she and her sister were detained at a French train station and transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in late 1943. She was also imprisoned in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from 1944 to 1945.
After the war, Lasker-Wallfisch emigrated to Belgium and then to Britain in 1946. In London, she co-founded the English Chamber Orchestra, performing with them until 2000. Since 1994, she has frequently travelled to Germany, giving lectures at schools about the consequences of anti-Semitism. In 2015, she joined the late Queen Elizabeth II on a visit to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
In recognition of her activism, Lasker-Wallfisch received the 2019 German National Prize and was awarded an OBE in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours list.
*The Commandant's Shadow
presents a complex and poignant exploration of the legacy of the Holocaust, offering a glimpse into the lives of those directly impacted by this dark chapter in history. The documentary underscores the enduring power of music and its role in survival, even amidst the most unimaginable horrors.
