‘Blinde Kuh mit dem Tod’ : Play at the Erholungshaus Leverkusen
To mark the international #WeRemember campaign, two performances of the play ‘Blindekuhmit dem Tod’ by the Junges Schauspiel theatre group from the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus were staged at the Erholungshaus Leverkusen on 4 and 5 February 2026. The performances were organised in cooperation with the Finkelstein Foundation and Bayer Kultur.
(c) David Baltzer
Natalie Hanslik (Mimi), Yaromyr Bozhenko (Pianist), Yaromyr Bozhenko (Herbert) (c) Michael Rennertz /Finkelstein Stiftung
Herbert Rubinstein and Stefan Fischer-Fels in conversation with the audience (c) Michael Rennertz /Finkelstein Stiftung
Ensemble Junges Schauspiel Düsseldorf and Finkelstein Foundation - (c) Michael Rennertz /Finkelstein Foundation
School performance ‘Blind Cow with Death’ (c) Finkelstein Foundation
School performance ‘Blind Cow with Death’ (c) Finkelstein Foundation
Previously, two performances sponsored by us had already taken place in Chernivtsi (Ukraine) – the city where the play is set.
Evening performance with discussion with survivor
After the evening performance, visitors had the opportunity to talk to Stefan Fischer-Fels, artistic director of the Junges Schauspielhaus at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, and Holocaust survivor Herbert Rubinstein. Born in February 1936 in Chernivtsi (now Ukraine), he survived the ghetto and Nazi persecution as a child. Today he lives in Düsseldorf and is actively involved as a contemporary witness. He recounted his own experiences and reflected with the guests on contemporary forms of remembrance culture.
His words clearly emphasised the importance of historical responsibility in social action:
‘What good is remembrance if we learn nothing from it for the future?’
‘When people hate Jews, people hate people. And hatred destroys humanity.’
School performance with around 250 students
On the morning of 5 February, around 250 pupils from various schools in Leverkusen attended the second performance. In the discussion that followed, they also had the opportunity to ask questions of Stefan Fischer-Fels and Natalie Hanslik, who plays the role of Mimi in the play.
Information on further initiatives related to the campaign can be found here.
