Seventy-five years ago, the British government agreed to temporarily allow up to 10,000 unaccompanied children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia who were at risk from the Nazis to come to Britain.
On 2 December 1938, the first of 9,500 children came to the UK and were taken in by foster families, hostels and camps, before the Kindertransport ended with the outbreak of war. The majority of the children saved never saw their families again.
Among those children was Jo Hacker, mother of theatre director and academic Ros Merkin and her sister the television producer Jane Merkin. She arrived from Vienna with her two younger sisters, Paula and Melanie, in December 1938. They had to leave behind their parents and their baby brother Max who was only 10 months old. Koloman and Franziska Hacker and little Max all died in the Holocaust.
To mark the 70th anniversary of that first transport arriving at London’s Liverpool Street Station, Ros and Jane, with musical director Max Reinhardt, created Suitcase, a site-specific promenade piece, that was performed at the station on the exact anniversary by drama undergraduates from Liverpool’s John Moore’s University.
This play, based closely on the stories of the original children and others involved, is once again being staged to mark the 75th anniversary, but this time it will not only be seen in London but performed at ten stations across Britain.
The audience will be taken on a journey which will see them stumbling on scenes played out by bewildered Kindertransport children, the waiting foster parents, transport organisers and bemused railway workers and bystanders—as commuters hurrying to catch their trains are hijacked by history.
The tour
In a lead-up to the anniversary performance at Liverpool Street on 2 December, Suitcase will tour to the following stations:
- Glasgow Central, 12 November
- Hull Paragon 14 November
- Interchange Sheffield, 16 November
- Leeds Central, 19 November
- Manchester Piccadilly, 21 November
- Liverpool Lime Street, 22 November
- Bristol Temple Meads, 25 November
- Southampton, 27 November
- Harwich International, 29 November
At most locations, there will be three performances at 10:30, 13:00 and 19:30 except at Sheffield where the afternoon performance will be at 15:00 and at Harwich International where the evening performance will be at 6PM.
Performances will be free but places must be booked. You can reserve your place on Eventbrite and booking opens on 7 October.
The company need to match-fund the contributions from ACE and elsewhere so you can give them support by donating via the Crowdfunder web site.
For more information, see the Suitcase 1938 web site.