Chichester commemorates 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

The production is The Last Train to Tomorrow which will be staged in Chichester’s Minerva Theatre on Monday, January 27 and Tuesday, January 28 as the Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day committee marks its tenth anniversary. Tickets on https://www.cft.org.uk/events/the-last-train-to-tomorrow#dates

An opera composed by Carl Davis, the piece tells the story of the flight of 10,000 children from the Nazis in 1938-39. Kindertransport rescue trains to London, such as the ones organised by Sir Nicholas Winton from Prague, carried the children to safety.

Children from Chichester-area schools will sing and play the parts of the children, accompanied by a professional orchestra conducted by Howard Moody – and it will all come with huge poignancy. Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday, January 27 is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Producer Jill has brought together nearly 40 young people from Bishop Luffa and the Prebendal from the age of eight up to 14.

Jill co-directed the Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day production of PUSH in 2018 which was performed in the Cathedral and then in St Paul's church before going to Speakers House in London in 2019. She is delighted to be working on the current production.

“Carl Davis’ music is absolutely beautiful. It is just astounding and to see the children taking on the roles of the Kindertransport children is just remarkable. You can see in their eyes the sudden realisation that this is what children of their age went through 80 years ago.

“Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day is about educating young people about the Holocaust and other genocides so that hopefully as young people growing up they will stand up against prejudice and human rights infringements so that it won't happen again. I think it's the arts that bring history alive. It is not the same as reading it in a history book – not that I’ve anything against history books. But I think it just brings it to life for them and it also brings it to life for the children in the audience.

“I think it is all there in the music and in the lyrics. Of course, it's an awful story, and what comes across is that the children really didn't understand what was happening, that they were being separated from their parents forever. They had no idea that they would never see their parents again. They thought it was just temporary. But at the same time Carl Davis’ lyrics are about a new beginning and a sense of a new life. In a bizarre way at the end the piece is extremely uplifting.

“The children started rehearsing with their own singing and music teachers in their own schools in October and then gradually that was ramped up. In November we brought them all together for the first joint rehearsal and they will be doing more in New Year.”

Jill first met Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day chairman Clare Apel when the organisation masterminded a performance of The Last Train to Tomorrow in 2016: “Her personal story was just so remarkable and that's really how I got involved. I wanted to do anything that I could to help spread her message and the message of Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day.”