And, yes, the surviving relics of one of the most infamous assaults on the assumption of human dignity and decency are themselves vanishing:
Esther Béjarano , (née Löwy; 15 December 1924 – 10 July 2021) was one of the last survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Along with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, she played in the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz.
Béjarano was born Esther Löwy, a daughter of the head cantor of a Jewish municipality, in Saarlouis.[1] Her father encouraged his daughter to get interested in music and Esther learned to play the piano. At the age of 15 she had to leave her parents' home in order to make an attempt to emigrate to Palestine; the attempt was unsuccessful. She served two years of hard labour at a camp in Landwerk Neuendorf [de], near Fürstenwalde/Spree.[citation needed]
On 20 April 1943, everyone in the camp was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. There she had to drag stones until she joined the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, where she played the accordion. The orchestra had the task of playing for the daily march of the gangs by the camp gate. After the war, she emigrated to Palestine on 15 September 1945 and in 1960 returned to Germany with her husband and two children.[2]
At the beginning of the 1980s, with her daughter Edna and son Joram, she created the musical group Coincidence. They sang songs from the ghetto and in Hebrew as well as anti-fascist songs.[citation needed]
Béjarano lived in Hamburg. She was a co-founder and chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee and honorary chairperson of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime.[citation needed]
Béjarano died on 10 July 2021 aged 96 in Hamburg.[3][4][5] She was one of the last surviving orchestra members.[6]
A
Esther Béjarano , (née Löwy; 15 December 1924 – 10 July 2021) was one of the last survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Along with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, she played in the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz.
Béjarano was born Esther Löwy, a daughter of the head cantor of a Jewish municipality, in Saarlouis.[1] Her father encouraged his daughter to get interested in music and Esther learned to play the piano. At the age of 15 she had to leave her parents' home in order to make an attempt to emigrate to Palestine; the attempt was unsuccessful. She served two years of hard labour at a camp in Landwerk Neuendorf [de], near Fürstenwalde/Spree.[citation needed]
On 20 April 1943, everyone in the camp was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. There she had to drag stones until she joined the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, where she played the accordion. The orchestra had the task of playing for the daily march of the gangs by the camp gate. After the war, she emigrated to Palestine on 15 September 1945 and in 1960 returned to Germany with her husband and two children.[2]
At the beginning of the 1980s, with her daughter Edna and son Joram, she created the musical group Coincidence. They sang songs from the ghetto and in Hebrew as well as anti-fascist songs.[citation needed]
Béjarano lived in Hamburg. She was a co-founder and chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee and honorary chairperson of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime.[citation needed]
Béjarano died on 10 July 2021 aged 96 in Hamburg.[3][4][5] She was one of the last surviving orchestra members.[6]
A
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.