Before the Nazis condemned Filar’s family to Treblinka, these were the last words Marian Filar’s mother said to him: I bless you. You will survive this horror. You will become a great pianist, and I’ll be very proud of you. Marian Filar, internationally acclaimed concert pianist performed throughout the world and with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra, not only living up to his mother’s last hope but, in her memory, surpassing it.