1930's
Ludmilla's
rise to fame was spectacular, and by the late 1930's she was considered
one of the greatest Chopin artists of Poland.
Ludmilla makes a living performing concerts throughout Poland and
teaching piano. Her concertizing and teaching is abruptly put to
an end by the arrival of German Occupation forces in 1939, who temporarily
cancel all concerts 
and begin their program of destruction throughout Poland.
Ludmilla's family lives in fear. Her father's family is Jewish,
and some members wear the armbands identifying them as Jews in the
street. Ludmilla is not yet identified as Jewish. The stress of
daily fear in Krakow leads to her father's death by a premature
heart attack!
A local Jewish attorney
keeps a list of Jewish people on which several Berkwic family members
(including her father and her aunt) appear. A devoted fan of Ludmilla's
playing, he is convinced by her to destroy the page of the list
on which her father's name appears while her aunt (father's sister)
prefers to remain on this list! Unfortunately, her aunt is sent
to a concentration camp where she perishes in a gas chamber.
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