History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

Lily Math é was born in the town of Eger Hungary, in 1910 as Lily Markstein. She began attending a teacher training college but dropped out and went to Budapest to study violin. In 1932 she adopted the stage name Lily Mathé and set up a gypsy band. She first played in Hungary with the group and then settled in Paris for a few years. Here they performed at the restaurant Hungaria, in the Cirque Medrano, and on the radio. The band also toured in Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.   In 1939, Lily moved to the Netherlands after the beginning of WWII, returning to live with her family in Budapest two years later. Following the German occupation of Budapest in the spring of 1944, Lily was arrested with her parents and other family members and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Her parents were gassed soon after their arrival. Lily however, became a member of the women’s orchestra and in the autumn of 1944 they were transferred to...