How can there be music in the worst place in the world? The moving documentary, The Last Musician of Auschwitz, tells the stories of Auschwitz prisoners who played and created music in the notorious death camp. Among them is the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who at age 100, is the last remaining member of the Auschwitz prisoner orchestra.

The film shows how, in the most brutal and dehumanizing situations, music could offer a lifeline, a method of giving testimony, and even a way to resist. Woven throughout the film are new interpretations of musical works written by victims of the camp, mainly filmed at evocative locations in the environs of Auschwitz.

On this website, teachers will find lesson plans, film excerpts and additional teaching materials for classroom use. The film offers a unique opportunity to bring the lessons of the Holocaust to New York City secondary school students as it frames its message through the universally accessible language of music.

Click here to go directly to the lesson plans.
Click here to go directly to movie excerpts prepared for classroom use.