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

Anne on Instagram

That was a fun morning filming. Endlessly discussi That was a fun morning filming. Endlessly discussing Wallis Simpson and what is new since the Abdication 90 years ago. Plenty actually! On the sofa with @llewelynbowen and #JuneWoolerton will air in a week or so. Thanks @lovemondaytv @youtube #somuchtosayandneverenoughtime
Even on a rainy day my publisher has a beautiful r Even on a rainy day my publisher has a beautiful roof terrace! Thanks @hachetteuk @gigiwoolstencroft for lovely paperback cover of #thewomensorchestraofauschwitz launching in March. Here I am holding first copy!
Instagram post 18076883897461305 Instagram post 18076883897461305
A fabulous performance of Schumann’s Traumerei o A fabulous performance of Schumann’s Traumerei on cello and accordion last night as played in Auschwitz by Anita Lasker Wallfisch when it was demanded by Mengele. #holocaustremembranceday
Such a fabulous evening in New York. Such a fabulous evening in New York.
Such a fantastic and emotional event tonight discu Such a fantastic and emotional event tonight discussing the women’s orchestra of Auschwitz in New York. First pic is me with Peggy, the daughter of teenage orchestra player Yvette Assael who married an Irish soldier after the war. Hearing the brilliant accordionist William Schimmel playing Schumann’s Traumerei was heartbreaking as was Emily Donato singing Chopin’s Tristesse. Even on a snowy night the event was sold out. Thanks to Holocaust Music Lost and Found for organising.., and selling so many books.
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 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
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