Helena Dunicz-Niwinska, Polish violinist, Died at 100

  Centenarian

Helena Dunicz-Niwinska was born on July 28, 1915 in Vienna, and died in October 2015.

She was a Polish violinist, translator of literature on the history of classical music and the author of the memoirs of wars.

Helena grew up in Lviv, where she lived with her ​​parents and brothers until 1943.

She started playing the violin at the age of 10 in Lvov Conservatory Polish Music Society, and continued with yet undertaken in the period 1934 to 1939 studying pedagogy.

After the outbreak of World War II, she remained in Lvov, and there she was arrested together with her mother in 1943.

In October of the same year, she was deported to the concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In the camp as a violinist, she went into the women’s camp orchestra.

Together with the orchestra performed during the daily events of the camp, and at the special evening concerts for the staff of the SS, where she performed songs by Edvard Grieg, Schumann and Mozart.

The Birkenau camp orchestra performed until January 1945.

Then they were evacuated to other concentration camps at Ravensbrück and Neustadt-Glewe.

After the liberation went to Krakow. Until 1975.

Helena worked as deputy head of editorial publications for music education in Polish Music Publishers.

She was the author of translation and literature In 2013, it was published by the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau book of memoirs Way of my life: memories violinist from Birkenau, which is a record memories of Helena Dunicz-Niwiński written by Maria Szewczyk (Oswiecim, 2013.

Helena passed away at age 100 in October 2015.