Saving the Survivors: Danish relief workers and Armenian women genocide survivors in the 1920s.

Between 1921 and 1930, 1,880 Armenian survivors who had escaped genocidal captivity were taken in by Karen Jeppe’s Rescue Home, on the outskirts of Aleppo. Most stayed a few months, some just days, some years. For each survivor she took in, Karen Jeppe recorded their names, ages, place of birth, parents’ names, photography, and a short version of their story: ten of these stories of survival are featured in the Wiener Holocaust Library's current exhibition: Genocidal Captivity. We will have a discussion about Jeppe’s work, led by Dr Rebecca Jinks.

There will also be a reading of a play, Sorrow is Turned into Joy, written and performed by a group of Armenian women survivors in 1924, in Thessaloniki, for visiting Danish humanitarians. The play addresses their recent experiences of genocide and loss. The reading is directed by the distinguished theatre and opera director Seta White.

About Seta White:

Seta is a theatre and opera director, theatre maker and actor. Trained at Bretton Hall University College – B.A. (Hons) Theatre Arts - there is a strong emphasis in multidisciplinary work throughout Seta's work, and she has devised work across dance, music and drama, most often in highly collaborative environments. Seta is particularly drawn to developing work with people who otherwise do not have a voice, to find their stories & discover how they want their stories told.