More than 8,500 London school children have learned about how children were saved from the Nazis by the Kindertransport, after The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) staged performances of The Children of Willesden Lane.
The children, aged between 10 and 13, filled Westminster Methodist Central Hall for five performances on Monday and Tuesday.
The show tells the story of Lisa Jura, one of those who was forced to flee her home in Vienna as a young girl and had to rebuild her life in London.
The one-woman show was performed by concert pianist Mona Golabek, Lisa Jura’s daughter. During the 90-minute musical performance, Ms Golabek performed sections of the book of the same name, which she co-wrote.
Ms Golabek told the story from both her perspective and her mother's. At times, she played the role of her mother, portraying her journey to the UK. Organisers described the show as “a mixture of biography and autobiography”.
Kindertransport refugees attended each performance, including 92-year-old Harry Bibring, who is cycling the last mile of a 600-mile ride from Berlin to London next week, organised by World Jewish Relief, which will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the effort to save child refugees.
HET chief executive Karen Pollock said: “We have all heard stories about the Holocaust but there is nothing like hearing from those who came to Britain on the Kindertransport, in their own words.
"This is why we have given students the chance to hear these stories first hand through Lisa Jura’s story.”
She added: “Our job is to educate, raise awareness and remember. The Kindertransport is part of our history and we hope that by understanding one girl’s story, students will draw relevance for their own lives and the world we live in today.”
In a postcard to Ms Golabek after the performance, one pupil said the experience had "touched mine - and every person in that theatre's - heart. Thank you".
Ms Golabek had already performed her show to 250,000 children in the US but this was her UK debut.
The show is part of the HET’s Stories from Willesden Lane project, which also saw thousands of British children tune in to a webcast in May to hear the testimony of a Kindertransport refugee.
