FREE ADMISSION
Duration of the exhibition: October 11, 2024 - February 11, 2025
The true story of a Jewish girl from Berlin-Wilmerdorf who, together with her parents, went into hiding to escape persecution by the National Socialist regime.
Sometimes you have to have the courage to defend what is good, and sometimes that courage can cost you your life. But maybe then you will save the whole world.
Exhibition for children and young people
Based on the graphic novel "Suzy, the Granddaughter from House No. 4 and the Time of the Hidden Jewish Stars"
Author: Birgitta Ber
Translation: Maya Razboinikova-Frateva
Design and layout: Penko Gelev
*In partnership with "Estetica" [Sтетика] - a platform for events and creative solutions.
When we decided to start the "Suzy" project almost a decade ago, the risk of getting caught in the "eye of the storm" seemed negligible.
Today, when we finally managed to present our book in print, along with the accompanying exhibition, the world is embroiled in not one but two wars, one of which is directly related to the theme of our work and places it in a complex context of ideological divisions.
"Susie, the Granddaughter from House N4" is an unadulterated and truly moving look at the evil of fascism as experienced by a Jewish child and her family, told from the bombed but not destroyed and unbroken house of our collective memory.
A story that is not malicious, but revealing.
A story that deserves to become part of our children's world and does not deserve to fall under the fire of the ideological layers of us, their parents.
But will this be the fate of the book and the exhibition Suzy, or will it resemble the difficult fate of the heroine Suzy?
The answer to this question depends solely on us.
As publishers of the book and curators of the exhibition, we are willing to take the risk because we are certain that the specific story of the granddaughter from house No. 4, like all good literature, conveys messages that transcend ideological divisions—messages related to the important themes of post-memory, exclusion, and inequality, which are
are just as relevant today as they were 70 years ago.
And we believe that these are issues that should be of equal concern to children, regardless of which side of history their parents choose to stand on.
That is why we challenge you to take your children on an exciting, visually appealing and well-intentioned journey that will allow you to get to know Suzi's family.
The exhibition tells the true story of a Jewish girl from Berlin-Wilmerdorf who, together with her parents Steffi and Ludwig Kolm, went into hiding in October 1942 to escape persecution by the National Socialist regime. The family survived thanks to the help of a whole network of people who believed that good was worth the risk.
Along the way, you will encounter many entertaining little stories about rejection and acceptance, fear and courage, and optimism and innocence as an antidote to evil.
Berlin-based writer, illustrator, and teacher Birgitta Beer has brought the experience to life from the perspective of her granddaughter Suzi, using a literary technique that intrigues children's imaginations—the visual language of the graphic novel.
Her story is based on materials from Stefan Kolm, a descendant of the family and Suzy's stepbrother, who shared his memories, documents, and artifacts from the family archive with the author.
The exhibition based on the book offers an innovative approach to recounting the past through the present—a risk that makes the experiment even more exciting.