Kindertransport

What would you do if you had to make the choice of possibly giving up your children in order save them, knowing that you might not ever see them again? Such is the decision that some European Jewish parents had to make before World War II. Between 1938 and the outbreak of World War II, almost 10,000 children, most of them Jewish, were sent by their parents from Germany to Britain. Known as the “Kindertransport”, the event will be commemorated in theatre through staged reading of the Diane Samuels’ play of the same name. 

The project is a collaboration between the East Bay Holocaust Education Center and Livermore Shakespeare Festival (LSF), as part of this year’s LSF LifeSPARC and EBHEC’s “Read to Remember” series. The play will be performed live as a stage-reading in Livermore Shakespeare Festival’s rehearsal space at 2172 Railroad Ave in downtown Livermore. 

Prior to the performance, a short presentation will be given by Linda Mason Waldroup of Walnut Creek. Linda, who lives in Walnut Creek, is a retired Contra Costa librarian and is a daughter of Holocaust survivors.  She is also co-chair of the Northern California Kindertransport Association. Her mother Doris Mason, who was born Doris Franzelore Goldschmidt in Germany in 1930, was one of the 10,000 children who were on the Kindertransport to U.K. in 1939.  Linda’s talk prior to the live-reading of the play performed by Livermore Shakes’ actors, will be her mother’s experiences before, during and after the Kindertransport. 

Production rights have been granted through Nick Hern Books, London, U.K. Tickets for the live pre-show talk and performance on July 22 are available at https://livermoreshakes.org/tickets/. Since seating is limited, tickets may also be purchased to view a taped version of the pre-show and performance at home from July 23-27. This event is sponsored by East Bay Holocaust Education Center, Livermore Shakespeare Festival and the City of Livermore.