R. was born into an upper class Jewish family. Her father had spent four years in America with his family and had affidavits, so they could have very easily left, but they stayed. In 1941, they went to Theresienstadt/Terezin. The elite of European Jews were in Terezin. As far as the cultural life was concerned, it was extraordinary. She knew Freddy Hirsch who came into contact with the Bialystok/Belystok children.
  
In 1943, Hirsch, R. and her mother were sent to Auschwitz, where R. spent almost six months at the children's home which was managed by Freddy Hirsch. There he and all the other pedagogues tried to give the children a feeling of some normality. Of not lying, of not stealing, of being honest citizens, of trying to be clean. This was something which saved not only quite a few of the children, but also quite a few of the pedagogues, and also her mother who saw how afraid she was.  
 
R. and her mother went from Auschwitz to work in Hamburg. 1,000 men and 1,000 women were chosen for work in Germany, until the Allies arrived on 15th of April, 1945, at the camp. After the war, R. continued the study at the music schools in Pilsen and Prague. In 1956 she won the Munich International Competition and
became one of Europe's most respected harpsichordists, performing classical and baroque music. From 1962 to 1967 she was a member of the Prague Chamber Soloists, which she co-founded with the conductor Vaclav Newman. R. has released around a hundred albums and played in concert halls around the world. Since 1962 R. taught at the Prague Academy of Music, and in 1990 she became a professor there. Her husband Viktor Kalabis is a composer. 

Letzte Änderung / Last update: 06.09.2008 

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