German and Jewish teenagers unite for poignant Holocaust Memorial Day concert

Susanne More, a history teacher at the German School, echoed Rosenberg’s sentiments. “We have a shared history, and no matter how difficult it is, there’s got to be communication. When we meet each other is when things become more normal,” she said.

“If I have a legacy at the school”, she continued, “it’s to ensure that as a German school, we address our huge responsibility to show Holocaust remembrance and deal with history responsibly to look towards a more tolerant future”.

Students from JCoSS and students from The German School (Photo: Benji Rosenberg)[Missing Credit]

This is not the first time that the schools have collaborated; students from the German School attended JCoSS’ school assembly for Yom HaShoah last year, which featured performances in English, Hebrew, and German. Last week, The German School welcomed Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke BEM, who said it was the first time that she had ever spoken to a majority German audience. Clarke was conceived in Theresienstadt ghetto and born in Mauthausen concentration camp, and her and her family’s story has been told in books and movies in the decades since.

The student readers, despite their young age – being in Year 11 (German School) and Year 12 (JCoSS) – are well aware of the responsibility that falls upon them to become the next generation of Holocaust educators, and to ensure the legacy of those who perished or endured the Holocaust is never forgotten.

Sadie Fishman, from JCoSS, said: “I think we’re quite lucky to have Holocaust survivors still alive because our children won’t hear from them. It’s important that we keep telling the story.”

Her peer, Nathaniel Allshever, said it was “quite surreal to be their voice”. All of the students were particularly moved when they realised that the oldest survivors alive today were roughly their age during the Second World War.

About the testimonies, Daniel Nienaber Brichs from the German School described them as “very powerful and moving”, and his classmate Isabella Ramakrishnan was aware that they did not even paint the full picture. “There were many Holocaust survivors who never shared their experience, and understandably so,” she said.

Nienaber Brichs continued: “It’s very important to teach the younger generations, to teach them just like we were taught, because, even if we have the education all our lives, it doesn’t help if we then die and the younger children don’t remember.”

Cellist Gemma Rosefield from Ensemble 360 rehearsing with students at JCoSS (Photo: Benji Rosenberg)[Missing Credit]

As well as the student speakers, a choir comprising students from both schools will perform at the concert. Tim Leffman, head of music at JCoSS, said that they were “really grateful for the opportunity to do something with a German school, and it’s something we’re really proud of. We’re making beautiful music together, and giving them the experience of collaboration, of hearing wonderful musicians and performing in a world-class venue.”

To empower students to connect in an authoritatively informed way with their peers is very special

The survivor testimony, being from the two legal events which have played a substantial role in shaping how the Holocaust is viewed today, is extremely moving – far from easy to read or stomach. Rosenberg said that “if you’re not struggling with the content, there’s an issue”, and Allshever said: “You can’t understand how these stories are even possible.”

When I told Lishak about what the German students had told me – how they already understood the importance of passing Holocaust education down to future generations and wanted to be part of that themselves – he was moved almost to tears. “To empower students to connect in an authoritatively informed way with their peers is very special,” he said.

“There are layers of naches here,” he continued. “Wigmore Hall was the venue where AJR staged concerts post-war to raise money for Jewish immigrant survivors. And their Sunday afternoon concerts started because they were aware that Jews couldn’t come on a Saturday. They have a great connection to the Jewish community. It’s not just a venue, it’s the venue.”

Jewish Care is bringing a coachload of survivors to watch the concert on Thursday. “We have to do everything we can for our survivors while they’re still here,” Lishak said. “It’s a collective act of witness being at a concert like this, and the audience shares that with the performers.”

As well as the involvement from both schools, the concert, presented by the Association for Jewish Refugees and Learning from the Righteous, will be narrated by BBC correspondent Tim Franks, who has recently published his memoir, The Lines We Draw, exploring his Jewish family history. 

To book tickets for the concert, click here or go to:

www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202601291300