Never Forget
The Story of Norbert Strauss
Second Witnesses from Wolfhelm Gesamtschule: Jamila, Allegra, Marie, Aurelia, Emma, Philipp, Sophia, Lena, Judith, Anna, Lilia, Meike, Gabriel, Leo, Hannia, Lina, their teachers Tobias Horstmann and Julian Wacker, illustrator Jonas Heidebrecht and ZWEITZEUGEN project supervisor Lena Vogel (© Stephan Schütze)
Which role do a bike, stones, a ship and plane tickets play in the story of Holocaust survivor Norbert Strauss?
How does one squeeze a whole, eventful life story into eight minutes, making sure to cover all important aspects but stay emphatic? An almost impossible task, but Second Witnesses from Wolfhelm Gesamtschule in Olfen, Germany were sure: We want to create something, that will carry on the life story of Norbert Strauss and address young generations at the same time.
They emphasized important elements in Norbert’s life – a bicycle, two stones (a symbol for the stones he had taken from the Synagogue of his hometown after it was destroyed in the Night of Broken Glass in 1938), a ship and plane tickets. They repainted his story with the help of graphic illustrator Jonas Heidebrecht. The four videos are also available in an Instagram version that can be spread through Social Media – the storyboards and texts, as well as the audio are 100 % created by the Second Witnesses from Olfen. They were supported by illustrator Jonas Heidebrecht.
The Bicycle
The Two Stones
The Ship
The Plane Tickets
“Never Forget” is a collaborative project with the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. It is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
