In the organizer's words:

Ottilie Kafka, known as Ottla, Franz Kafka's youngest and dearest sister, was born on October 29, 1892. She occupied a special place in the writer's life. The play is dedicated to her eventful life in Prague with her family and her deportation to Theresienstadt.

On her arrival in the ghetto, Ottla takes over the care of children in the orphanage. There she meets the Jewish camp doctor Felix Hershkovitz, who survives the camp and later tells Ottla's daughters about his memories of their mother. Ottla's surviving letters to her two daughters in Prague are particularly impressive - direct contemporary testimonies that make the events and her inner attitude comprehensible.

Events come to a dramatic head when Ottla volunteers to accompany a Kindertransport of Jewish Polish children to Auschwitz. Felix tries to stop her in order to save her life. But Ottla remains true to her decision. Her spiritual connection to Franz Kafka was also omnipresent during this time. He is present in the play through his quotes.

All three of Franz Kafka's sisters were murdered in the Shoah. The play makes this fate visible and gives Ottla a voice that still resonates today.

Ensemble: rimon productions
Director: Britta Shulamit Jakobi

A joint event by the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus Foundation, the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Düsseldorf e. V. and Düsseldorf contributions "Respect and Courage"