Lola

After his parents divorced, his mother fled to the Netherlands with her new husband, later arranging for Peter to join them. As the war intensified, he was placed in a Catholic boarding school for safety. When the school could no longer care for the children, Peter was left on his own. For nearly three years, he survived by moving between homes, relying on the kindness of strangers and his own resilience.

During this time, he taught himself to play the accordion—a skill that would shape his future.

After the war, Peter reunited with his family and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He later returned to Germany to study music, where he reconnected with his biological father, a judge at the Nuremberg Trials. Back in the U.S., he built a distinguished career as a musician and conductor, including work in Broadway orchestras, and raised a family with his wife, Veronica.

Years later, a visit to the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach led him to reconnect with his Jewish roots. He chose to bear witness through his music, sharing his story and reminding future generations of both the dangers of hatred and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

“The better part of us must survive,” he says. For Peter, music is his faith.