Hear the women sing | by: Da Vida

In 2024-2025, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. It is of great importance that we continue to commemorate World War II and liberation. Especially now that peace is no longer so obvious because of all the unrest in Europe, among others. On this day, we reflect on it with a special performance: Hoor de vrouwen zingen.   This musical theatre documentary by the Da Vida Foundation features the songs sung and stories told by four special prisoners of Camp Vught at the time of World War II: the resistance fighters Hetty Voûte & Gisela Söhnlein, the poet David Koker and the diamond worker Lotty Huffener. Students Hetty Voute and Gisela Söhnlein write and sing relatable lyrics about camp life to existing songs during their imprisonment, under the name Pooh and Piglet, keeping their spirits up and offering distraction to their fellow inmates. "Turning, always turning, and to the sharks we never go anyway!" The Jewish student David Koker keeps a diary in camp on blotting paper, which he manages to smuggle out, allowing it to be published after the war. He also occasionally sings songs in camp Vught, together with his little brother Max, and writes poems. One can guess spring in the morning breeze and from the plain a clear vapour rises light falls in sunny grace On the red houses of our camp He does not survive the camps. The Jewish diamond worker Lotty Veffer survives the horrors of several camps as the only one of her family, thanks to her employment at Phillips, her friendships, and dumb luck. "We had a pretty decent, at least I had a very nice, pff hey yes because that's what you say at the end, a very nice Aufseherin." The four characters each paint a different picture of camp life in Vught, and each demonstrate incredible resilience and ability to put things into perspective. This musical performance is an ode to humanity, humour and music in time of war.

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