RMC Briefing: The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the restitution of lost music

Religion Media Centre Podcast

The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp, will be commemorated across the world on 27 January. 1.1 million people were killed there, mostly Jews, but also Polish people, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gays, and criminals. Auschwitz is a symbol of the Holocaust and 27 January is remembered as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The images and stories of survivors are well documented, but less well known is that Auschwitz was home to at least six orchestras, formed of prisoners and commissioned by the SS. Musicians incarcerated there composed and arranged scores - many of their manuscripts are incomplete while others are damaged beyond recognition.

A young British musician, Leo Geyer, who has painstakingly restored and completed their work, joined the briefing to explain his discovery. Young musicians have been brought together to recreate the compositions, which they perform as the story is told in a documentary on Sky Arts on the evening of Monday 20 January.

Other guests are Holocaust survivor, Joan Salter, and Laura Marks, Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. The host is Richard Allen Greene, formerly CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, now training to be a Rabbi.

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