With "De Rechtvaardigen", based on Jan Brokken's (1949) book of the same name, we bring you the story of Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk who put his life on the line for the freedom of others. Zwartendijk is saviour of thousands of lives, of Polish Jewish men, women and children who fled to Lithuania, desperately seeking a way out of Europe. He issued visas that allowed Jews to travel, on the Trans-Siberia Express, from Lithuania through the Soviet Union to Vladivostok, on to Japan and on to America, Shanghai and other countries, saving them from the Holocaust.
An impressive story that will also focus on the rescued Leo Adler and his wife Bella Hamburg who reached New York after a six-year flight, but remained homesick for their original continent and language.
Through readings by Jan Brokken, woven into music for choir and saxophone quartet, we experience in this through-composed concert how the good deeds of one person can save thousands of lives