DVD:
Music under the Swastika

A documentary featuring Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, cellist of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann and many others.

“Music? You can’t destroy that…” Anita Lasker-Wallfisch.

Why was classical music so important to Hitler and Goebbels? 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. The world-famous conductor made a pact with Hitler and his henchmen. The young woman, brought to Auschwitz for being Jewish, was spared death for her musical talent. German music was used to justify the powerful position the Third Reich claimed in the world, and to distract listeners from Nazi crimes. This music documentary by Christian Berger features interviews with musicians like Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann; the children of Wilhelm Furtwängler; and of course 97-year-old survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Her memories are chilling. Archive film footage, restored and colorized, brings the story to life, and bears witness to an agonizing chapter in history.

A film by Christian Berger.

Genre Documentary
Original title Klassik unterm Hakenkreuz - Der Maestro und die Cellistin von Auschwitz
English title Music under the Swastika - The Maestro and the Cellist of Auschwitz
Duration 86 mins.
Director Christian Berger
Production Company 3B-Produktion, commissioned by DW
Production year 2022