Literature concert with Johanna Krumstroh (recitation) & Anke Helfrich (piano) to mark the German publication of the book "Zweiter Atem" by Maurice Blik.
Maurice Blik: "Second Breath"
Maurice Blik is six years old when, two years after the arrest of his Jewish family in Amsterdam and after a terrible odyssey and finally a year and a half in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, he sits with his British mother and his eight-year-old sister on the "Lost Train", in which the Nazis wanted to send Jewish "exchange" prisoners from Bergen-Belsen to Theresienstadt. In Tröbitz near Berlin, the inmates are liberated by Russian Cossacks.
Because of his mother's British citizenship, the family was allowed to travel to England in the summer of 1945, where Maurice spent his youth and his student years and eventually became a celebrated sculptor. It was only late in his life that Maurice remembered the terrible experiences of his early childhood and had to recognise - and accept - their immense influence on his artistic work.
After taking part in a series of documentary films about his life in the 2000s and 2010s, he finally published his artistic survival story "The Art of Survival" in 2022, in which he reveals this link between life and art in a poignant and sensual way.
After his visit to Bergen-Belsen in April 2025 for the anniversary celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Liberation, Maurice Blik decided to publish a German translation of his book - as an inspiration and admonition for future generations in the land of perpetrators.
About the literary concert
On this evening, Johanna Krumstroh (recitation) and Anke Helfrich (piano) will guide you through the publication, which was recently published in German.
Johanna Krumstroh has made literary concerts her artistic centrepiece. Through the skilful dramaturgical structure of her programmes - closely interwoven with music - and her expressive interpretation, she knows how to draw her audience completely under the spell of the story and to touch, challenge and inspire them again and again.
The multi-award-winning pianist Anke Helfrich grew up in Germany and Namibia and is one of the most outstanding jazz musicians in Europe. Her style combines American jazz tradition with European influences, blues with sensuality of sound. She fuses music and attitude into highly interesting projects, such as her current album "We'll Rise", which was nominated for the "German Jazz Award 2024" in the "Album of the Year" category. Helfrich received the "ECHO Jazz" in 2016 and was honoured by the "Hessian State Ministry for Science and Art" the following year. She has released five highly acclaimed albums under her name. One of her compositions was included in the book "New Standards by Women Composers", published by the American Terri Lyne Carrington in 2022. Last year, Helfrich toured with her trio in Germany, the Baltic states, Canada and Japan.
Tickets are available at the Schlosstheater Celle.