"I was thinking about my teacher when, a few weeks later, we were forced to congregate in the main square of Birkenau. I thought it strange that our barrack was invited to attend a concert, perverse even, given the audience were prisoners... The conductor smiled at the guards seated in the front row, and introduced her ensemble as the BIRKENAU WOMEN'S ORCHESTRA. Most of them wore yellow stars....Then Piri stepped into the spotlight. What was my teacher doing here? She wasn't Jewish. Why was she playing for the guards?...The conductor raised her baton and Piri hunched over the piano. The conductor tapped at the lectern and Piri's fingers flew to the keys..."