Truus’ Children at Manchester Jewish Museum
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Join Manchester Jewish Museum for a film screening of ‘Truus’ Children’. Filmmakers Pamela Sturhoofd and Jessica van Tijn have spent years creating this extraordinary documentary that recounts the life and work of Truus Wijsmuller. She was a Dutch resistance heroine who managed to rescue more than 10,000 people from the hands of the Nazi occupation in the years prior to and during the Second World War. Her unprecedented Perseverance, tact and courage led to the lives of thousands of mostly children aged between two and eighteen years old being saved.
This incredible story has been hidden and almost forgotten in history for nearly 80 years. In ‘Truus Children’ more than 20 of the people helped by Truus Wijsmuller bring it to light in the exact way it should be highlighted. The film is seen as a part of wider research into the role that women played in the resistance during the Second World War. The filmmakers commented on how the overwhelming message that came across as they looked into Truus’ life was that she firmly believed anyone can make a difference.
After the film there will be a Q&A with Manchester Jewish Museum’s curator Alex Cropper and director Pamela Sturhoofd and Margaret Jacobi, a descendent of one of Truus’ children. There will also be a special screening before the film of interviews with refugee children who came to Manchester, these recordings are part of the larger Truus Children archive.
