Anita Lasker-Wallfisch: Inherit the Truth 1939-1945

o ‘which was to generate the warmest friendships and camaraderie as well as hatred in equal
measure.’ p.75
o Spoke both French and German which allowed her to make friends with both sides of the
orchestra
o ‘Alma herself was a very fine violinist, but her most notable quality was her powerful
personality. She commanded absolute respect from us, and to all appearances, from the SS
as well. Her position was unprecedented.’ p.78
o ‘With this material Alma set herself the task of creating a genuine orchestra, in which only
the highest standards were acceptable. They were the standards she herself had grown up
to respect. In reality it meant that Alma had to drill practically everybody note by note, and
she threw herself into the task with a fervour that seemed ridiculous in the circumstances.
We must not forget that outside our little world the gas chambers were working non-stop.’
o [describing Alma forcing her to scrub the floors for playing badly after being severely ill] ‘I
could not say that I loved Alma for this. In fact I was furious and hated her. But strange
though this may sound, I now have nothing less than the greatest admiration for Alma’s
attitude. I am still not sure whether she took a premeditated line or acted on instinct. But
with this iron discipline she managed to focus our attention away from what was happening
outside the block, away from the smoking chimneys and the profound misery of life in the
camp, to an F which should have been an Fsharp’ p.79
o ‘Her disciplinarian attitude towards us was never prompted by fear of the SS, or of any dire
repercussions if we did not play as well as we should have done. She was a proud lady, aloof
and very dignified, regardless of whether she was dealing with us or the SS, and I am cetain
that she was deeply respected, even by the SS.’
o ‘It is very important not to underestimate the mutual support we gave one another. I think
we all contributed a little to each other’s survival. We watched everyone and bullied people
when, for example, we noticed the first signs of slackening in personal hygiene’. P.83
o She gives account of all the orchestra members she’s kept in touch with over the years to
say ‘What I really want to say is that, contrary to the way in which we were portrayed in
Arthur Miller’s film version of the camp orchestra, we were far from being a vindictive mob
of unruly girls who stole from and betrayed each other at every opportunity’ p.84
o ‘For reasons best known to herself, she indulged in the most preposterous distortions of the
truth about practically everyone who took part in this drama’.