You're reading: CNN: Playing to live: Pianist survived Holocaust by performing for Nazis

Atlanta (CNN) - Zhanna Arshanskaya Dawson's name is etched on the wall of a stark underground memorial in Ukraine, next to that of her sister, Frina, their parents and grandparents. She was presumed dead, like the 16,000 other Jews from Kharkov who perished under the Nazis in the winter of 1941. Only, Dawson survived, as did her sister.

They lived through the Holocaust, saved solely by their musical genius. Dawson's son Greg believes his mother and aunt are the only two Jewish survivors from Kharkov.

Read the full story here.