In this episode - the last one of Season 2 - Sam and Alex look back on 2025 and the first two seasons of LUOTD. They recap how the podcast came about; talk about the highlights, from special guests to a global audience; the challenges, including politics and time zones; their top three Holocaust plays so far; podcast plans for 2026; and how even 103 editing notes for a single episode hasn’t ruined their friendship.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

In this episode, Sam and Alex explore Kindertransport by Diane Samuels. In 1938-39, nearly 10,000 mostly Jewish children were brought to the UK as part of a humanitarian mission that rescued them from what was to come in Nazi-occupied Europe - but meant that many never saw their parents again. Kindertransport draws upon the experiences of kinder and rescuers to look at what it means to survive when everything you once knew has been ripped away.

When nine-year-old Eva arrives in Manchester from Germany, she knows it won’t be long before her parents join her. But as time passes, contact stops and hope fades, Eva begins to transform herself into Evelyn, blocking out her past to reinvent herself. It’s only years later, when her own daughter Faith is getting ready to fly the nest, that Evelyn is forced to admit the truth and face what she thought was already gone.

Sam and Alex discuss elements including the themes of identity, loss and intergenerational trauma; comparisons between the Kindertransports and British evacuees during WWII; the device of the Ratcatcher; and Kindertransport’s contemporary relevance in the context of child refugees and rising global tides of hate.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Books & Articles

Melissa Hacker and Ernest Goodman, "Kindertransport." Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 November 2025.

Plays

Diane Samuels (1995/2009) Kindertransport. Nick Hern Books.

In this week’s episode, Sam and Alex look at two short plays for middle schoolers: Rescued From The Holocaust by Sean Price and Dr. Yanush Korczak by Alina Kentof.

As well as a discussion about the highlights, challenges and contemporary relevance of working with the plays, the pair explore the historical contexts behind each one. American diplomat Varian Fry led successful efforts in southern France to rescue around 2,000 people, both Jews and non-Jews; while Janusz Korczak was a Polish Jewish paediatrician, writer, educator and children’s rights advocate who ran a Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto.

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Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Books & Articles

Anita Kassof / Holocaust Teacher Resource Center / Walter Meyerhof / Varian Fry Foundation, Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee: A Resource Guide for Teachers.

Arolsen Archives, Janusz Korczak. The man who set an example for educators.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Holocaust Encyclopedia: Varian Fry.

Plays

Rescued From the Holocaust by Sean Price and Dr. Yanush Korczak by Alina Kent in A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust: Plays, Florida Center for Instructional Technology.

“In the last clearing of the Warsaw Ghetto three children find themselves on a transportation to Auschwitz and encounter the Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto. He offers them a moment of magic in which to escape – if they have the courage to take it…

Not all stories have a happy ending, but they should all begin with outrageous hope.”

In the second part of this special two-part episode, Sam and Alex continue their exploration of a vibrant part of Jewish culture that was nearly lost during the Holocaust: the drut’syla storytelling tradition.

Following on from the first part of the episode with special guest Shonaleigh Cumbers, believed to be the last living drut’syla, the girls listen to the CD recording of The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto and discuss their reactions - from standout moments and favourite characters to some of the themes.

Be warned - plot spoilers abound, so be prepared to skip parts if you don’t want to know what happens!

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Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Reason (A Prayer) from The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto (2006): Shonaleigh Cumbers with Ilana Cravitz, Mike Layward and Jo Veal

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Shonaleigh Cumbers with Ilana Cravitz, Mike Layward and Jo Veal (2006) The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto. Audio CD.

For more information about The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, and to learn more about Shonaleigh and her tellings, courses and events, please visit https://shonaleigh.uk.

A published collection of some of Shonaleigh’s stories, A Garment for the Moon, is forthcoming from Orkneyology Press.

In the first part of this special two-part episode, Sam and Alex look at a vibrant part of Jewish culture that was nearly lost during the Holocaust: the drut’syla storytelling tradition.

Special guest Shonaleigh Cumbers, believed to be the last living drut’syla, talks to the girls about the tradition and her life and experiences as a storyteller. She also offers some insights into her incredible story The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, a beautiful and bittersweet story about three children who, in the final roundup after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, encounter a man who offers them what could be another chance at life. Dare they trust the man with a coat like beggar’s velvet?

Don’t forget to rate, review, comment and subscribe!

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Guest: Shonaleigh Cumbers

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Books & Articles

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Holocaust Encyclopedia: Warsaw.

The Wiener Holocaust Library, The Holocaust Explained: Case Study: Warsaw Ghetto.

Other sources

To learn more about Shonaleigh and her tellings, courses and events, please visit https://shonaleigh.uk.

For more information about Twilight Tales and to join the online tellings, please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/twilighttales.

A published collection of some of Shonaleigh’s stories, A Garment for the Moon, is forthcoming from Orkneyology Press.

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome…the girls are back! In the season premiere, Sam and Alex look at the iconic musical Cabaret and ask: Is it a ‘Holocaust play’?

The conversation includes their encounters with it, from childhood memories up to recent performances in London and New York; key differences between the film and the stage version(s); the depictions of characters from Clifford and Sally to Herr Schultz and Frau Schneider, and what they represent; and what Cabaret itself represents in the current global political climate.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Books & Articles

Joel Grey, “I Starred In ‘Cabaret.’ We Need to Heed Its Warning” in The New York Times, 24 November 2024.

Plays

Joe Masteroff (book), John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics) (1966/1987) Cabaret.

Other sources

You can find all three education packs by Susie Ferguson for the London production here: https://kitkat.club/education/.

In this week’s episode, Sam and Alex look at Arthur Miller’s adaptation of Fania Fénelon’s memoir of her time in the women’s orchestra of Auschwitz.

The pair talk about the history of the orchestras at Auschwitz, including the relative ‘privilege’ of the musicians; the life and experiences of Fénelon, a French singer and pianist; the moral challenges facing the orchestra members; the representation of women’s experiences; and the complex, overarching theme of perpetrators as ‘humans’ rather than ‘monsters.’

To skip updates and recommendations and go straight into the episode, listen from 15.15.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Tim Auld, “How Arthur Miller struck a discord with the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz” in The Guardian, 6 March 2015.

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, On Auschwitz (25): Orchestras at Auschwitz.

BBC Media Centre, The Last Musician of Auschwitz.

Fania Fénelon (1977) The Musicians of Auschwitz. Michael Joseph Ltd.

Kathryn Hughes, “The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz by Anne Sebba review – playing for their lives” in The Guardian, 21 March 2025.

Arthur Miller (1990) Playing for Time. Nick Hern Books.

Music and the Holocaust / ORT.org: Fania Fénelon / Anita Lasker-Wallfish / Alma Rosé

Time Note, Maria Mandel.

To request a full list of resources, please use the contact form.

Content warning: this episode contains references to disordered eating.

In this week’s episode, Alex and Dr Sam talk to Professor Lisa Peschel - whose interviews with Czech survivors of Terezin/Theresienstadt led to the discovery of numerous scripts, previously thought lost, of the performances staged inside the ghetto. This led to the publication in German, Czech and English of Performing Captivity, Performing Escape, a collection of 12 of these scripts.

The trio discuss elements including the historical background of Terezin/Theresienstadt; the cultural life in the ghetto; Lisa’s interviews; her experiences of working with the plays, including reactions from students; and the potential highlights and challenges for educators. Lisa gives a reading of the book’s epilogue, the satirical yet poignant New Year’s Eve in the Oederan Slave-Labor Camp. Overall, the discussion considers how the plays allow students and teachers to gain an insight into the lives and experiences of the people who created and performed them.

Some sound issues were experienced during recording - thank you for bearing with us!

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Guest: Lisa Peschel

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “⁠Image⁠” by ⁠Infraction Music⁠

Contact: ⁠https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/⁠

Plays

Lisa Peschel (ed.) (2014) ⁠Performing Captivity, Performing Escape: Cabarets and Plays from the Terezín/Theresienstadt Ghetto⁠. Seagull Books.

Other sources

Visit the ⁠Performing the Jewish Archive⁠ website to explore a vast range of material, including a video recording of The Smoke of Home.

To learn more about Lisa and her work, please visit the ⁠University of York website⁠.

To request a full list of resources for this episode, please use this form.

In this week’s episode, Dr Sam and guest co-host John Summers-Campbell explore the most naturalistic of Brecht’s works: a series of 24 episodic scenes that illustrate what life was like for ordinary Germans under the Nazis in the build-up to the Second World War.

Sam and John discuss aspects such as the (under)representation of different groups; which of the scenes they think are the most powerful, and why; John’s experiences of directing the play, including a tap-dancing schoolgirl, a maid in drag and a fainting Nazi; how Fear and Misery… inspired a 1980s sci-fi series; and how the play is, once again, hauntingly timely.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & John Summers-Campbell

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “⁠Image⁠” by ⁠Infraction Music⁠

Contact: ⁠https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/⁠

Books & Articles

The Poetry Foundation, “Bertolt Brecht”: ⁠https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/bertolt-brecht⁠

Plays

Bertolt Brecht; John Willett (trans.) (2006) ⁠Fear and Misery of the Third Reich⁠. Methuen Drama.

Unfortunately Leopoldstadt is no longer available on National Theatre at Home (we checked), but you can watch the National Theatre trailer ⁠here⁠ and find copies of the text ⁠here⁠.

To request a full list of sources for this episode, please use this form.

Content warning: Discussions of sexual violence and graphic descriptions of antisemitic violence and killings.

In this episode - the first in the Contested Histories series - Sam and Alex explore Our Class by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, translated/adapted by Ryan Craig. Based on the controversial history of the Jedwabne pogrom, in which the Jews of the town were murdered in July 1941 by their Polish Catholic neighbours, the play looks at the stories of victims, perpetrators and survivors. The real life events on which the play is based challenged the image of Poles as solely victims in World War II, and debates continue to this day.

Sam and Alex discuss aspects including the history and investigation of the massacre; ‘responsible’ stage portrayals of violent acts; and the resonance of Our Class in the current moment - all in a play where the name ‘Jedwabne’ is never actually spoken.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “⁠Image⁠” by ⁠Infraction Music⁠

Contact: ⁠https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/⁠

Books & Articles

The Contested Histories Initiative, “Jedwabne Pogrom Memorial in Poland”, Contested Histories Case Study #125 (June 2021).

Museum of the History of Polish Jews (POLIN), ⁠The anniversary of the Jedwabne massacre and ⁠Timeline of pogroms in the former Soviet occupation zone – summer of 1941.⁠

Plays

Tadeusz Słobodzianek; Ryan Craig (trans.) (2009) ⁠Our Class⁠. Oberon Modern Plays.

To request a full list of resources for this episode, please use this form.