Rebel Pianist of Majdanek

Inspired by the true story of pianist Mosha Gebert’s struggles in Nazi death camp Majdanek. Refusing to play for the camp commandant, Mosha faces a heartbreaking choice: she must share her music or suffer crippling torture. Former Polish teenage piano prodigy Mosha Gebert is teaching when the Nazis come for her. They kill her student, but she is taken to Majdanek concentration camp. There, Commandant Josef Hanke spots her and recognises her as the pianist he fell in love with years earlier. Hanke demands that Mosha play ‘Ode to Joy’ for him, but she refuses. She will never play in such a horrific place or for such an evil monster. So begins a battle of wills and repeated torture. Even when Hanke causes her to lose her hearing, Mosha refuses to play. When Mosha’s sister arrives in the camp, Hanke tries to use her as leverage but Mosha is steadfast in her refusal to play. Even when her sister is sent to the camp brothel, Mosha does not waver. Hanke finally turns his anger on Mosha, breaking one of her fingers. She convinces prison guard Elsa to smash the rest of her fingers with a rock. Mosha believes crippling herself is the only way for her to survive and triumph over Hanke, but what will this do to him? Will Hanke forgive her? Or will this last desperate act finally push him over the edge? AUTHOR: Nicola Pittam is a British screenwriter, an award-winning author and a former Fleet Street journalist. Her TV pilot House of the Rising Sun (inspired by the lyrics of The Animals hit song) made the Bitch List 2019 and also placed on the inaugural Grey List 2023 of Hollywood’s top 40 writers over 40. It also placed in the semi-finals of both the Shore Scripts TV contest and the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Imprint: Mardle Books
Publication date: 28/03/2024