Ellie Midwood's Reviews > Alma Rose Vienna to Auschwitz

A meticulously researched biography of a truly outstanding woman. I read it for research purposes and the further I read, the more I began to admire Alma’s strong personality and boldness. Not only was she a true pioneer in conducting a highly-successful female orchestra when the music scene still mostly belonged to men but managed the impossible in a place where all hope was lost - create a new women’s orchestra out of nothing and thus save multiple lives (almost all members of her orchestra survived the camp). Mr. Newman did an outstanding job with his research. By the time I finished this remarkable biography, I felt like I knew this brilliant woman personally, and not only her, but her entire family and the girls she shared the last months of her life with. By providing historical documents and eyewitness accounts, the author creates a vivid and objective portrait of a woman who refused to bow down to the new world order and remained an artist and a rebel till the very end. A biography I’d highly recommend to everyone!