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The Windermere Children

The stark, moving and ultimately redemptive story of how the friendships forged at Windermere become a lifeline to a fruitful future.

August, 1945. A coachload of children arrive at the Calgarth Estate by Lake Windermere. They are child survivors of the Nazi Holocaust that has devastated Europe鈥檚 Jewish population. Carrying only the clothes they wear and a few meagre possessions, they bear the emotional and physical scars of all they have suffered.

Charged with looking after them is Oscar Friedmann, a German-born child psychologist. He and his team of counsellors have just four months to help the children reclaim their lives. By the lake, in sunshine and rain the children eat, learn English, play football and ride bikes. They yearn for news of their loved ones every day, and meanwhile they are invited to express their trauma through painting. Some locals taunt them but they are embraced by others. A number of the older children steal and they are haunted by nightmares. Nevertheless, it is in this environment that they begin to heal.

Eventually, letters from The Red Cross arrive with the terrible confirmation that for nearly all the children's siblings and parents have been murdered. One child, however, is convinced that his brother survived.

The Windermere Children is the stark, moving and ultimately redemptive story of the bonds they make with one another, and of how the friendships forged at Windermere become a lifeline to a fruitful future. In the absence of relatives, they find family in each other.

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Wed 5 Jan 2022 21:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Oscar Thomas Kretschmann
Marie Paneth Romola Garai
Jock Lawrence Iain Glen
Leonard Montefiore Tim McInnerny
Rabbi Weiss Konstantin Frank
Berish Marcel Sabat
George Lauer Philipp Christopher
Edith Lauer Anna Schumacher
Dr Willenshaw BJ Hogg
Mrs Walker Ali White
Chiel Falinower Thomas Finnegan
Ben Helfgott Pascal Fischer
Sam Laskier Marek Wroblewski
Sala Anna Maciejewska
Arek Tomasz Studzinski
Ike Alterman Jakub Sprenger
Chaim Olmer Kacper Swietek
Yvonne Tara Cush
Salek Jakub Jankiewicz
Sevek/Juliusz Lukasz Zieba
Malcolm Cal O'driscoll
Toddler 1 India Angermann-Wajs
Bela Alicia Pokladecka
Malcolm's Friend Colm Mccready
Malcolm's Friend 1 Jonathan Cameron
Composer Alex Baranowski
Director Michael Samuels
Producer Alison Sterling
Writer Simon Block
Production Company Wall to Wall Media

Broadcasts