The Lost Music of Auschwitz

Eight years ago, composer and musician Leo Geyer discovered something incredible when speaking to an archivist at Auschwitz-Birkenau: fragments of manuscript pages that somehow survived. Although the scores were incomplete and in poor condition, Geyer was nevertheless able to piece them together to recreate what these works may have sounded like when performed by the camp’s orchestras 80 years ago. Using archive footage of survivors alongside stirring performances of these rediscovered compositions, The Lost Music of Auschwitz poignantly evokes one of history’s bleakest chapters, showing how music was both weaponised by the guards and used as a symbol of defiance.

The relatively short documentary is divided into separate chapters, each concerning itself with aspects of life in Auschwitz and how classical music played a role within it. Survivors tell harrowing stories of waving goodbye to family members for the final time upon arrival and watching the bodies of friends being carried back after long days of marching, all while remembering the melodies that were being played by fellow prisoners. These first-hand accounts are moving enough on their own, but hearing these pieces performed as they likely were all those years ago brings viewers closer to these testimonies in a way they haven’t before.

This film also pays tribute to some of the musicians who were there. Not only were they remarkably gifted, but they would use their talents to rebel in their own ways by including extracts of forbidden Polish songs into their compositions or holding performances in secret at the risk of their own lives. The rough pencil-scratched notation and faded handwriting visible on the nameless pages, which Geyer carefully presents to the camera, are tangible reminders of those who wrote them.

This film is also partially a live performance; there are a handful of scenes dedicated to watching the music being played in an intimate setting. These moments allow viewers to become fully enveloped within the sounds and appreciate both the historic tragedy that they represent alongside their artistic beauty.

Although this short documentary’s abrupt chapters result in a loose structure, the earnest approach The Lost Music of Auschwitz takes when recreating the music from this point in history is both tremendously touching and fascinating.

Andrew Murray

The Lost Music of Auschwitz is released on Sky on 20^th January 2025.

Watch the trailer for The Lost Music of Auschwitz here: