Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1939-1945 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
4 files
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Anita Lasker was born into a professional Jewish family, one of three sisters (Marianne and Renate). Her father was a lawyer; her mother a fine violinist. They suffered discrimination from 1933 but as their father had fought at the front in the First World War, gaining an Iron Cross, the family felt some degree of immunity. Marianne, the eldest sister, fled to England in 1941. In April 1942, Anita's parents were taken away and are believed to have died at Isbica, near Lublin, in Poland. Having been initially arrested in Breslau for aiding the escape of French forced labourers, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was later able to survive Auschwitz by playing the cello in the Auschwitz prisoners' orchestra. Towards the end of the war the sisters were transferred to Bergen Belsen where they remained for up to a year after liberation. During this time Anita was a witness at the Lüneburg trial where camp guards and Kapos were tried for their war crimes.
Repository
Archival history
GB 1556 WL 1040 1939-1945 Collection level 4 files Wallfisch , Anita , Lasker- , b 1925 , musician x Lasker-Wallfisch
Anita Lasker was born into a professional Jewish family, one of three sisters (Marianne and Renate). Her father was a lawyer; her mother a fine violinist. They suffered discrimination from 1933 but as their father had fought at the front in the First World War, gaining an Iron Cross, the family felt some degree of immunity. Marianne, the eldest sister, fled to England in 1941. In April 1942, Anita's parents were taken away and are believed to have died at Isbica, near Lublin, in Poland. Having been initially arrested in Breslau for aiding the escape of French forced labourers, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was later able to survive Auschwitz by playing the cello in the Auschwitz prisoners' orchestra. Towards the end of the war the sisters were transferred to Bergen Belsen where they remained for up to a year after liberation. During this time Anita was a witness at the Lüneburg trial where camp guards and Kapos were tried for their war crimes.
Lasker-Wallfisch family
Personal correspondence of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch with family members, documenting in part the experiences of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and her sisters in Bergen Belsen concentration camp and in England, 1945, and the experiences of their parents prior to transportation to their deaths, close to the Lublin Ghetto, 1942.
Arranged chronologically by correspondent.
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
German and English
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
Imperial War Museum, London
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
January 2008 Wars (events) Antisemitism Bergen Belsen concentration camp x Belsen Concentration camps Eastern Europe England Europe Genocide Germany Holocaust Humanitarian law Jews Migrants Nazism Poland Political doctrines Racial discrimination Refugees Religious groups Third Reich Totalitarianism UK Wallfisch , Anita , Lasker- , b 1925 , musician x Lasker-Wallfisch War crimes Western Europe World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) London
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Lasker-Wallfisch family
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Personal correspondence of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch with family members, documenting in part the experiences of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and her sisters in Bergen Belsen concentration camp and in England, 1945, and the experiences of their parents prior to transportation to their deaths, close to the Lublin Ghetto, 1942.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged chronologically by correspondent.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
German and English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
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Subject access points
- Interethnic relations » Ethnic discrimination » Antisemitism
- Humanitarian law » War crimes » Concentration camps
- Humanitarian law » War crimes » Genocide
- Humanitarian law
- Religious groups » Jews
- Migrants
- Political doctrines » Totalitarianism » Nazism
- Political doctrines
- Migrants » Refugees
- Religious groups
- Political doctrines » Totalitarianism
- Humanitarian law » War crimes
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Description control area
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Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English