42 | APRIL 2 • 2020
Arts&Life
review
B
ritish philanthropist
Leonard Montefiore, a
founder of World Jewish
Relief, took a special interest in
youngsters who survived concen-
tration camp experiences of star-
vation, deprivation, forced labor
and separation from loved ones.
With liberation, he joined
caring volunteers to help hun-
dreds of these youths regain their
abilities, trust in others and the
future.
The transition unfolded at a
tranquil estate along Lake Win-
dermere in England. In the sum-
mer of 1945, formerly impris-
oned young people had food,
their own rooms, classes, time to
play and help from the Red Cross
in learning about their families.
This initiative is brought
to life in very personal stories
through the BBC docudrama The
Windermere Children being aired
April 5 on PBS. The 90-minute
film, based on the testimony of
orphaned survivors, was written
by Simon Block and directed by
Emmy-winner Michael Samuels.
The torment of the past and
activities to escape devastat-
ing memories were made real
through engrossing scenes of the
youths responding to their new
environment, first in desperation.
Near a woman walking a domes-
ticated dog, they express fears the
animal was trained to be vicious.
The cast includes Thomas
Kretschmann (The Pianist),
Romola Garai (The Miniaturist),
Tim McInnerny (Strangers) and
Iain Glen (Game of Thrones).
Psychologist Oscar Friedmann
(Kretschmann) is charged with
looking after the children. He
and his team — art therapist
Marie Paneth (Garai), Montefiore
(McInnerny) and sports coach
Jock Lawrence (Glen) — work
over four months to help chil-
dren heal and reclaim their lives.
A key element is the changing
interaction with the British peo-
ple living nearby, some harboring
skepticism about refugees.
The film shows the youngsters
advancing by learning English,
riding bikes and expressing their
trauma through painting. Adding
to the realism are scenes of con-
tinuing anti-Semitism and efforts
to overcome those challenges.
Haunted by nightmares and
wishing they could find family
members, the children look to
one another for meaningful
relationships, which help them
understand a world new to them.
The impact of the experience is
told in an epilogue that introduc-
es successful seniors represented
in their troubled adolescent
years. They tell of their efforts to
take charge of their own lives and
rebuild after Windermere.
Hearing the actual survivors
brings an uplifting promise for
the possibilities of tomorrow.
The Windermere Children will air at
10 p.m. Sunday, April 5, on PBS and
stream on the PBS video app. “The
Windermere Children: In Their Own
Words” will be streaming on PBS
Passport.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PBS
Scene from
Windermere
Children
Escaping Memories
Docudrama traces young
survivors’
return to life.
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