The route of a Nazi Death March will be transposed to the English countryside between Frome and Bath next week to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust.
Forced Walks: Honouring Esther takes the route of a Nazi Death March in February 1945 into the Bergen Belsen death camp and transposes it onto the English countryside.
The two day walk from Frome to Bath seeks to connect with local and contemporary human rights resonances, sharing stories and bearing witness.
When the camp was liberated by the British army in April 1945, some of the soldiers came from Somerset, so the walk also commemorates the local involvement in this key moment in history.
Supported by Bath Spa University, the walk takes place over two days, beginning in Frome and ending at Bath’s historic Jewish Burial Ground, Coombe Down, on 15th April 2015, exactly 70 years since the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
The walk follows public rights of way as close as possible to the transposed line of the death march, the walkers will pause to reflect, share and bear witness at the moments where the lines of history and present intersect.
It will be an intimate participatory and performative event gathering sounds and images whilst pausing to reflect on the events of 70 years ago and sharing these thoughts with the world.
There will be opportunities to join the walk on line; an exhibition of documentation and new work will follow in July.
The project is being run by Bath Spa Creative Media Practice and Heritage lecturer and walking artist, Richard White in collaboration with installation artist, Lorna Brunstein, whose mother Esther undertook, and survived, the original walk in 1945.
Richard said: “We walk at a time and to a place of our choosing in solidarity with those who had no choice.
“We want to hear from local historians and residents, artists, walkers, veterans, exiles and migrants who may be interested in contributing and taking part in some way.”
For more information on the walk, click here.
If you would like to participate in the walk itself, register here.
