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Today (Monday, January 27) is Holocaust Memorial Day and marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. At 9pm until 10:30pm, BBC Two will air The Windermere Children, based on the true story of the children who survived the Holocaust and arrived in England in August 1945. The true story is based on the first-person testimony of elderly survivors of the Holocaust and residents at Windermere. The episode will be followed by ‘The Windermere Children: In Their Own Words’ at 10:30pm on BBC Four.
Where is The Windermere Children set?
The Windermere Children is set in The Lake District, England, in the summer of 1945.
In June 1945, the UK Home Office agreed to a request from philanthropist Leonard Montefiore to grant up to 1,000 displaced children of the Holocaust to reside in the United Kingdom.
According to the Times of Israel, 732 Holocaust survivors were flown from Prague to the UK in August 1945, with 300 of them settling in near Lake Windermere in the Lake District.
They had landed at RAF Crosby-on-Eden, near Carlisle and with them, they brought nothing apart from the clothes on their backs.
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The feature-length drama focuses on the story of five teenage Polish boys who came from concentration camp Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia to Windermere.
Survivors were housed in accommodation was found on the shores of Lake Windermere in a dis-used aeroplane factory, known as the Calgarth Estate.
The Calgarth Estate is situated in the village of Troutbeck Bridge in Cumbria, England.
During the war, the factory had housed seaplanes but after D-Day, the factory was closed down.
The children were housed in the empty worker’s accommodation for approximately four months.
Speaking to the Guadian, Holocaust survivor and Windermere resident Arek Hersh said: “Each one had a bed, a chest of drawers. There was everything you needed.”
Speaking separately to the BBC, survivor Ike Alterman recalled his first night at the Calgarth Estate. He said: “You get in and there was a bed and sheets, cushions and blankets to cover yourself with.
“We just put our heads down, we fell asleep, and we slept and we slept.”
Holocaust survivor and Windermere resident Sam Laskier added: “We weren’t guarded, we were free.
“It was a wonderful time for us. We really started living in Windermere – slowly.”
Responsible for looking after the children was Oscar Friedmann (played by Thomas Kretschmann), a German-born child social worker and psychoanalyst.
He was joined by his team of counsellors, art therapist Marie Paneth (Romola Garai), philanthropist Leonard Montefiore (Tim McInnerny) and sports coach Jock Lawrence (Iain Glen).
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Where was The Windermere Children filmed?
Work began on The Windermere Children three years ago, with filming taking place in Northern Ireland in May 2019.
The series was written by BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, Simon Block and directed by BAFTA and Emmy-winning director Michael Samuels.
The children of Windermere are played by a talented cast of young European actors selected from Polish communities in Germany, London, Manchester and Belfast, as well as from Warsaw.
Marek Wroblewski, Kaceper Šwiętek, Kuba Sprenger, Pascal Fischer and Jakub Jankiewicz portray real Holocaust survivors and Windermere residents Sam Laskier, Chaim “Harry” Olmer, Ike Alterman, Ben Helfgott and Salek Falinower respectively.
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The series had historical advisors, including Trevor Avery and Rose Smith of the Holocaust Museum, Lake Windermere; and the Holocaust Education Trust.
Screenwriter Block interviewed a dozen of Windermere survivors to create the feature-length drama.
He told the Guardian: “They couldn’t bury what happened to them completely because it would come back in their sleep, in their subconscious, but they wanted families and all the rest of that.
“It was when they retired and they had more time to reflect that it all came barrelling back to them.
“The Windermere children are the most patriotic people I’ve ever come across.
“They’re so grateful for the chance they got to start their lives again in the UK, and they want to express that in many ways, by being successful here and paying taxes and raising their families here.”
The Windermere Children airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two
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