Join the USC Polish Music Center, Holocaust Museum LA, and the Museum of Tolerance for a special afternoon of the Witness to Truth series as we highlight the experience of 2nd generation of Holocaust survivors through the lens of the Laks family.

Guest scholar Dr. Grzegorz Mania and Museum of Tolerance Deputy Director Mark Katrikh will lead a digital discussion with philosopher André Laks, followed by a performance of music composed by his father, Szymon Laks.

Paris-based Polish Jewish composer and writer Szymon Laks’s music uniquely balances elements of French modernism, Polish folk music, and American jazz. The composer survived imprisonment at Auschwitz by conducting the camp orchestra, an experience which he later recalled in his hauntingly honest book entitled Music of Another World.

Shortly after regaining his freedom in May 1945, Szymon Laks used Polish folk idioms to create his Third String Quartet. This lively work will be the centerpiece of this afternoon program, which will be performed live by students from the USC Thornton School of Music Strings Department.

This event is offered free of charge. RSVP required.

FREE UNDERGROUND PARKING.