Just an ordinary class of thirteen-year olds? In 1938 these children were put into a Prague orphanage, before being deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp. One of these children, a young poet, Hanus Hachenburg, arrived in Terezin and become well-known for his contributions to a children's magazine 'Vedem'. Besides poetry and prose, Hanus also wrote a puppet play 'We are looking for a Monster'. At the age of only fourteen he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered.
Sixty years later, I discovered his allegorical puppet play in a Terezin exhibition in Jerusalem. In 2001 I produced 'Monster', for the first time ever, as a theatre piece. It has now become a 'monster' documentary, in which I have taken on the role of detective, travelling throughout the world, trying to piece together clues from young Hanus' life. Finally I traced survivors who had witnessed, first hand, Hanus' incredible talent and the last of these boys remain to be interviewed in the United States and Canada in September.
Watch this space!
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