Foreword Author’s Note Prologue PART I A Concert with Leonard Bernstein in May 1948 From Artist to Slave LaborerA Documentary Takes Us Back in TimePART II Paprika, Prayer, and Persecution Finding the Cello (and the Man) of my Dreams Losing Everything Again Katherine’s Last Recital Eichmann in Budapest, a Tale of Monsters as Men PART III Envoi to Atrocious TimesPapa’s Death and Notes of Transcendence PART IV A Musician Afraid of Sound Pilgrimage Living in Isolation When History is Revised and Denied The Fear of Rising Antisemitism PART V Playing for My People in Germany (Landsberg, 2018) Postscript A Genocide Dictionary Acknowledgments Bookclub Questions Appendix About the Author Amsterdam Publishers Holocaust LibraryA sweeping history of generations darkened by the shadow of the Shoah, this is a story of secrets and the healing power of music.A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of personal discovery. As a child Janet is haunted by the eerie hush surrounding her parents’ experiences. George and Katherine, two professional musicians and Holocaust survivors, bury the memories of who and what they were before, silencing the past in order to live. Music is their lifeline.After five decades of secrets, Janet finally unravels her Holocaust heritage when she stumbles upon a clue. After the war, George performed morale-boosting programs throughout Bavaria in a twenty-member orchestra of concentration camp survivors. Although Janet also becomes a cellist, her father never discloses that two of the programs, in 1948, were led by the legendary American maestro, Leonard Bernstein.Janet’s father was more fortunate than others. When he was rounded up for hard labor, narrowly missing deportation to the death camps of Auschwitz, a music-loving Nazi guard gave him gloves to protect his cello-playing hands. Janet’s memoir of the Holocaust is deeply personal and illuminating. Through humor and colorful story-telling, she weaves her parents’ life into her own and captures the intensity of their life experiences. The lingering scars are healed through the sustenance and power of music, and their music-making unites people from generation to generation.A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of personal discovery. As a child Janet is haunted by the eerie hush surrounding her parents’ experiences. George and Katherine, two professional musicians and Holocaust survivors, bury the memories of who and what they were before, silencing the past in order to live. Music is their lifeline.After five decades of secrets, Janet finally unravels her Holocaust heritage when she stumbles upon a clue. After the war, George performed morale-boosting programs throughout Bavaria in a twenty-member orchestra of concentration camp survivors. Although Janet also becomes a cellist, her father never discloses that two of the programs, in 1948, were led by the legendary American maestro, Leonard Bernstein.Janet’s father was more fortunate than others. When he was rounded up for hard labor, narrowly missing deportation to the death camps of Auschwitz, a music-loving Nazi guard gave him gloves to protect his cello-playing hands. Janet’s memoir of the Holocaust is deeply personal and illuminating. Through humor and colorful story-telling, she weaves her parents’ life into her own and captures the intensity of their life experiences. The lingering scars are healed through the sustenance and power of music, and their music-making unites people from generation to generation.