READING AND DISCUSSION

Silence – Forms of Resistance and Cover-ups
Reading and discussion with comic artist Birgit Weyhe
Moderator: Jakob Hoffmann, founder of the Yippie Children's Comic Festival

In her graphic novel Silence, Birgit Weyhe commemorates two women and their stories of resistance. Ellen Marx, a 17-year-old German Jew, was forced to flee to Argentina in the spring of 1939 under the Nazis. Her family did not survive the Holocaust. During the Argentine military dictatorship almost 40 years later, her daughter Nora is kidnapped – once again, a dictatorship destroys her family's life. Elisabeth Käsemann belongs to the German post-war generation that became politicised within the student movement. In 1969, she travelled to Buenos Aires, where she studied and became involved in social activism. She was arrested in 1977, taken to the El Vesubio torture camp and murdered. The Foreign Office remained silent on the matter, as economic interests and the upcoming World Cup in Argentina seemed more important. ‘Silence’ documents these stories and the resistance of the families, for example as mothers of the Plaza del Mayo.

Admission: €5 / €2.50 reduced (cash only)
Location: Weltkulturen Bibliothek, Schaumainkai 35