Today, the theater kids from Dachau took the train to Indersdorf. There is the place where Greta Fischer worked. Greta left her four siblings in England after the war, where they had all been taken, like many other children of Jewish parents, to escape the Holocaust.

In Indersdorf, Greta wanted to help orphans. She had learned that the Americans had taken over the orphanage there. Greta was inspired by the idea of giving the children a perspective on life. The young woman, who was herself an orphan, developed educational concepts for the orphans, most of whom were severely traumatized. These were intended to help the children entrusted to her to master their lives despite the most difficult starting conditions. Her pedagogical approaches are still relevant today.

Wolfsmehl accompanied his theater kids to the former Indersdorf monastery, as did a teacher from the Greta Fischer School. In Indersdorf, Greta Fischer was made an honorary citizen after her death. A memorial path commemorates what she accomplished and the crimes committed against children in the small market town during the Third Reich. At this place, the 10- and 11-year-old as well as 14- and 15-year-old participants of the project traced how it must have been for Greta Fischer and the orphans at that time. The vivid descriptions and the guidance of Anna Andlauer, a proven expert on Greta Fischer, were a great help.

Afterwards, the students were able to share their experiences over ice cream and let the experience sink in. Then it was back to the train to Dachau.
For the rehearsals of the staged readings, which will start after the summer break, this immersion in the life of their protagonist at the scene of the event is indispensable. We can be curious to see how the theater kids will implement what they have experienced! :)

Photo: Greta Fischer, who cares for the children in Indersdorf as if they were her own. Copyright: US Holocaust Museum, Washington

• Oct. 23: Publication of the book for the play
• 29.11.23 First performance and premiere with students at Theater Dachau (during the day)
• 30.11.23 Second premiere with the kids (in the evening)