Sous-fonds SF4 - Alma Rosé

Alma Maria Rosé was born in Vienna, Austria on November 3, 1906 to violinist Arnold Josef Rosé and Justine Mahler Rosé. Under the tutelage of her father, Alma grew to become an established and successful violinist. In 1932 she founded the women’s ensemble, Die Wiener Walzermädeln (The Waltzing Girls of Vienna) which performed tours throughout Europe. In 1939 she fled Nazi occupied Germany to London with her father Arnold Rosé. Later that year, with their resources dwindling, she returned to Nazi occupied Netherlands to work. While in the Netherlands she frequently corresponded with her father and brother. As she attempted to escape Switzerland she was arrested in 1942 by the Gestapo. She was sent to an internment camp in Drancy and eventually transferred to a concentration camp in Auschwitz in 1943. While in Auschwitz, Alma led and performed with the Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz (Girls Orchestra of Auschwitz). She died suddenly on April 4, 1944 in a concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
For more biographical information on Alma Rosé see "Alma Rosé: Vienna to Auschwitz" written by Richard Newman.