Skip to content

The Last Musician of Auschwitz: Musical Solace Amid the Horror

Raphael Wallfisch plays the cello for his mother Anita Lasker-Wallfisch at her London home last year

The Last Musician of Auschwitz, made by Two Rivers Media for BBC Arts, co-funded by Access, and executive produced by the Blavatnik Family Foundation Co-Chair Emily Blavatnik, is a remarkable film. It finds something new to say about Auschwitz and does it in a moving, life-affirming way, without ever sparing us the horror of the Holocaust. Yet, incredibly, amid the terror there was music. It was performed and even composed in the camp, and for a fortunate few this enabled their survival. Music was a lifeline and a way of resisting.

Back to News

Learn More

Discover the cutting-edge science we fund

Providing many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and universities with support, and funding to discover breakthroughs that solve humankind's greatest challenges.

See how we support great cultural institutions around the world

The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.

Visit the Blavatnik Archive

The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia.