Strings - Tapa blanda

Fifteen-year-old Hanna Berkenski journeys from her family's tiny apartment in the Warsaw Ghetto through an awful night spent in a cattle-car with her mother and sister to the welcoming orchestra at Auschwitz where she was a violinist for three years. As the train arrives at Auschwitz, flowers, sunshine and music fell like warm welcomes to her. She's been told she'll be spending the next few weeks in a "work camp" until her family can be reunited and relocated. Even the snowflakes bring her joy...until she realizes they're not snowflakes at all but ash. Three years in hell are about to begin...

This is fifteen-year-old Hanna Berkenski's journey from her family's tiny apartment in the Warsaw Ghetto, through the awful night she spends in a cattle-car with her mother and sister, to her three years as a violinist in the welcoming orchestra at Auschwitz. The real horror begins as the train arrives at Auschwitz. Hanna's first impression is of a warm welcome because of the flowers and sunshine and music. She has been told she will be spending the next few weeks in a "work" camp until her family is reunited and relocated. Even the snowflakes make her feel a sense of relief...until she realizes they are not snowflakes at all, but ash. Hanna is taken to Building 11, where the "welcoming" orchestra women are housed. Her red hair is shaved, her arm tattooed, and she is given a blue skirt, a white blouse, and a violin. She is also given a gray dress, which she wears when she is not performing. And then she spends three years in Hell.