The conviction belongs to Anne Sebba, a British writer and author of the book ‘The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz – A Story of Survival’, which has been released in the UK and will be published in Portuguese by Planeta Publishing in April.
“She didn’t consider herself Jewish, but decided to save as many Jews as possible,” Sebba explained during the book’s presentation to a group of journalists in London, including those from a Portuguese news agency.
An Austrian Jewish professional violinist, niece of composer Gustav Mahler, and member of a musically inclined family, arrived at Auschwitz in 1943 and was initially selected for a “pseudo-scientific experiment” on female sterilization.
As her final wish, Alma Rosé requested to play the violin.
Her talent was quickly recognized, and she was transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau to lead the women’s orchestra, which had previously been managed by Zofia Czajkowska, a former Polish teacher who had convinced the guards she was related to composer Tchaikovsky – a claim that was untrue.
From mid-1943 until her sudden death in April 1944 at the age of 37, allegedly from food poisoning, Alma Rosé led the orchestra with a firm hand. It was the only female orchestra amid multiple male ensembles.
Under her guidance, the group of around 40 women from various nationalities including French, Belgian, Polish, and Greek, was spared from manual labor and benefited from more favorable conditions compared to other prisoners.
Their role was to play music at dawn to ensure other captives marched faster to and from work, always in rows of five, making headcounts easier.
On other occasions, they performed at the train platform to calm new arrivals or entertained German officers.
The British writer is convinced that Rosé understood the orchestra “was a lifeline” and often said, “Either we play well, or we will be killed.”
“She was a very strict disciplinarian. She probably occasionally threw her baton and punished musicians if they played an F-sharp instead of an F-natural, forcing them to scrub the block for a week,” noted Anne Sebba.
This entailed long hours of rehearsals with little food in a cold pavilion, although they had a privileged status, living in separate quarters with their own beds, blankets, and undergarments, and exempt from manual labor.
“I don’t think the food was much different, and they worked non-stop, but the greatest privilege [Alma Rosé] gave them was hope, the hope that they could survive,” emphasized Sebba.
She was the only one who did not survive among the approximately 40 women in the orchestra, some of whom lived to reach 100 years old.
Several pursued artistic careers, while others were left traumatized.
Belgian violinist Hélène Wiernik, one of the most talented in the group, never played again after leaving Auschwitz, where her 11-year-old brother died in the gas chambers.
The British author interviewed two survivors, Hilde Grünbaum (1923-2024), who has since passed away, and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, now 99 years old and residing in London.
Another survivor, Esther Loewy (1924-2021), who adopted the surname Bejarano after marriage, visited Portugal a year before her death at the invitation of the German School in Lisbon.
For Anne Sebba, “they are all heroines” for escaping the Nazis’ mistreatment and extermination attempts, aided not only by their musical talents but also their survival instincts and teamwork, “without ever losing their moral compass.”
