Anne Sebba

Author, Presenter & Lecturer

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Anne Sebba’s compulsively fascinating book!

Sally Singer, New York Times Style Editor
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Anne Sebba brings meticulous research and a brilliant writer's eye to one of the darkest questions of World War II.

Anthony Horowitz
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Absolutely gripping in so many ways; beautifully written and superbly researched, a brilliant and a fresh take on a famous case.

Simon Sebag Montefiore
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An important retelling of Les Années Noires in Paris which puts women's stories, and the complications of their lives under Occupation, centre stage…

Kate Mosse, Author of Labyrinth
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A fascinating book I couldn’t stop reading. Anne Sebba knows everything about Paris during the War. She understands everything about the chic, loathsome collaborators and the Holocaust victims…

Edmund White
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One book two covers...

Anne Sebba
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  • Books

    Anne is the author of eleven non fiction books mostly biographies of iconic women with a strong historical context.

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  • Journalism

    Anne loves interviewing extraordinary people – and ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances – especially at the end of their lives.

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      • ‘The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz’ - Interviews with Anne Sebba

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All that remains of Block 12 in Auschwitz-Birkenau All that remains of Block 12 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, where under the baton of Alma Rose some 50 or so women, of eleven nationalities, Jews and Christians, played marching music in order survive. Known to history as the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, they were really a girls band. Today on #holocaustremembranceday I honour them and the millions of others who did not survive the Nazi campaign to exterminate Jews, Roma and many other minorities and political opponents. Their fight for life and demonstration of the human spirit to survive is a guiding light. #thewomensorchestraofauschwitz
I’m speechless after watching this. Just brillia I’m speechless after watching this. Just brilliant in every way.
Delighted to give a talk @hillingdon_libraries for Delighted to give a talk @hillingdon_libraries for Holocaust Memorial Day in a beautiful 1930’s building with some of my favourite quotes on the wall especially Jane Austen’s ‘There is no pleasure like reading’. Thanks for inviting me and gathering such an engaged audience . Great q and a!
#thewomensorchestraofauschwitz
What a huge honour to give the 5th Sabina Miller m What a huge honour to give the 5th Sabina Miller memorial lecture tonight. My topic was Ordinary people in Extraordinary times : The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz and I was invited by Sabina’s daughter Sandra who set up the series to commemorate the life of her mother. Sabina survived the Warsaw Ghetto, Pawiak prison and endless wartime suffering but later worked tirelessly for Holocaust Education until her death in 2018. This is such an important week for teaching tolerance and kindness as part of the Holocaust Memorial Day message.
What a brilliant end to a fascinating stay in Icel What a brilliant end to a fascinating stay in Iceland, meeting the poet, novelist and screenwriter Sjon who talked to us about the inspiration for his latest novel Codex 1962. He explained that he grew up in a country which only wanted to talk about what it meant to be Icelandic. But he explores in the book the importance of recognising that there’s no such thing as purity of culture. Discovering the story of Jewish emigree, Melita Urbancic was the biggest prompt for writing this novel. Thanks so much to @jewishrenaissance for organising this wide ranging tour of a beautiful country just coming to terms with its history.
Lunch in Reykjavík Cafe Rosenberg because Ethel n Lunch in Reykjavík Cafe Rosenberg because Ethel never far from my thoughts. 
#ethelrosenberganamericantragedy
Fascinating day learning about three emigre Jewish Fascinating day learning about three emigre Jewish musicians who found sanctuary from Nazi Germany in Iceland in late 1930’s, inspite of the then prime minister wanting to keep the country ‘only of pure blood’. They dramatically changed the country’s musical traditions, premiering many European classics, building both orchestras and choirs. Arni Ingolfsson (above) has written a fantastic book on the subject. And now Reykjavic has one of the world’s finest modern concert and opera houses, the fabulous Harpa Concert Hall.
Good to be back on the circuit today talking about Good to be back on the circuit today talking about the resilience and courage of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz in chilly Lichfield, next to the birthplace of Samuel Johnson. The decommissioned church provided a magnificent venue with its stained glass windows as a backdrop. As ever an audience that knew some of the story but was shocked by the parts it did not. Such a privilege to tell these stories. #thewomensorchestraofauschwitz
What a privilege to have met and interviewed Eva S What a privilege to have met and interviewed Eva Schloss, always referred to as Anne Frank’s step sister, but who became a powerful voice in her own right on the need for holocaust education. 
My interview with Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s posthumous stepsister, (quoted in her obituary above) appeared in the Times in 2009. It was an unforgettable meeting for me as she talked calmly about being betrayed and beaten yet ultimately finding the strength to live and, in her last two decades, to educate children about the need for tolerance. What a spirit!
Fabulous revival of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink. G Fabulous revival of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink. Go see it for its witty take down of biographers as well as British attitudes to India but mostly for its clever structure and wonderful acting. Felicity Kendal unrivalled.
What a privilege and honour to speak at a big char What a privilege and honour to speak at a big charity lunch today about The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz and share the stage with brilliant cellist #RafaelWallfisch, son of the last living survivor of the orchestra, Anita Lasker Wallfisch, 100.
Half the audience were in tears when he played Schumann’s Traumerei, which his mother had been forced to play in Auschwitz to Josef Mengele.
Thank you @bbc_history for choosing The Women’s Thank you @bbc_history for choosing The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz as a book of the year, especially thanks to #ProfessorHanna Skoda, whose specialty is Medieval History at Oxford, for selecting this. I am so grateful that this story resonated with you. 

#historybooksoftheyear
Budapest in December! Beautiful city of contrasts Budapest in December! Beautiful city of contrasts from the vast parliament building to the many magnificent art nouveau buildings and memorials everywhere remembering the frequent occupations and uprisings. Pic 3 shows images of Jewish families deported pic 6 and 7 memorials to Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews by issuing visas.Thanks @theluminairetravel for organising such a fascinating weekend.
Display of shoes on the Danube bank to commemorate Display of shoes on the Danube bank to commemorate all those shot and pushed into the river, mostly Jews, by Arrow Cross gangs before the Nazi occupation. The victims had to leave shoes and jewellery on the river bank and were often tied in a threesome so that if not killed by a bullet they would drown.
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