The Lost Music of the Holocaust

Bringing the music of the camps to the ears of the world at last

By: Francesco Lotoro

Narrated by: Simon Slater

A great pianist and composer, Francesco Lotoro has been involved for over thirty years in an epochal undertaking: building an archive of the music that survived the concentration camps.

Scores sewn into coat linings, instruments hidden in suitcases, sheet music stashed among dirty laundry, concertos written on discarded food wrappers - these are just some of the ingenious ways prisoners in civilian, political and military captivity from 1933 to 1953 protected their music in the darkest of times.

Italian pianist and composer Francesco Lotoro has been on a lifelong quest to find this remarkable music. He has painstakingly salvaged and performed symphonies, operas and songs written by the incarcerated musicians, many of whom died in the camps. He has travelled the globe to meet with families and survivors whose harrowing testimonies bear witness to the most devastating experiences in twentieth-century history.

Movingly piecing together the human stories of those who wrote and performed whilst imprisoned, this compelling book takes readers on a journey into their extraordinary lives and music, shining a light on a unique beauty that somehow prevailed against all odds.©2023 Francesco Lotoro

Critic reviews

A remarkable set of stories