Broertje is Verdwaald + Q&A
In the context of the Maastricht Boekenweek, we present the cinema premiere Broertje is verdwaald. This documentary focuses on the deportation of four-year-old Léon Wesly to Auschwitz and its impact on the lives of the Wesly family from Maastricht. Following the screening, there will be a discussion (language: Dutch) and a performance by Nani Vazana.
Many special guests are present for the discussion, including Léon's younger brother Benoit Wesly and his older sister Leni Wesly. Director Bart Hölscher will also be present. Additionally, singer Nani Vazana will perform the song "Durme Durme" live.
Broertje is verdwaald
Documentary by Limburg filmmaker Bart Hölscher about the deportation of four-year-old Léon Wesly to Auschwitz and its impact on the lives of the Wesly family, including his sister Leonie, after World War II.
BROERTJE IS VERDWAALD is a documentary about the scars of the Second World War. In November 1943, Léon goes into hiding in the Limburg village of Voerendaal with his seven-year-old sister Leonie. A neighbour, a member of the NSB (a Dutch fascist organisation), betrays Léon in exchange for twenty-five guilders. From the kitchen where she is hidden, Leonie watches her little brother being rounded up. In February 1944, he ends up in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
After the Second World War, Léon and Leonie’s parents come to pick up their children. There is no trace of Léon. When after the liberation the twins Benoît and Tova are born, their father tells anyone who will hear that God took a son from him and gave him two children in return. Despite the joy of the family expansion, the loss of Léon still casts a dark shadow over the Wesly family’s life. In this documentary, Leonie, Benoit and Tova visit each other in the autumn of their lives and enter a conversation about the arbitrariness of fate, guilt and about the small photo on the wall of that family member who was never talked about at home: their little brother.