Monday, April 29, 1996
Little known element of Nazi genocide familiar to one
actress
By Jennifer Richmond
Daily Bruin Contributor
Jennifer Crystal and Faith, her character in "Kindertransport,"
have a lot in common.
Both are Jewish, both have learned about the Holocaust and both
long to know their Jewish relatives and their history.
"All my life my mother’s been very reserved and has never really
talked to me about things," Crystal explains of her character in
the drama. "Every time I try to talk to her she puts a wall up. So,
most of my life I’ve just been wanting her to love me, but there’s
always been something missing.
"Through the journey of the play I discover things about my
mother that I never knew," Crystal continues. "I suddenly realize
she was a survivor of the Holocaust through the Kindertransport,
and everything has changed and this one missing piece in my life
has been filled and I suddenly have a starting point where I begin
to live my life."
The Kindertransport was a train that carried thousands of Jewish
children between the ages of four and 17 to England. Once they
reached England, the children were adopted by English Christian
parents so they’d be safe during World War II.
The play, which takes its name from the train, watches three
generations of women as they’re affected by this little known piece
of history.
During all of Faith’s life, she never knew that she was Jewish.
Now that she knows who she really is, Crystal says Faith goes in
search of her Jewish relatives because she never had a grounding
point before, something was always missing.
"(Faith) says in the play, ‘I now have a background, a context
and I want to know what being (Jewish) means.’ It’s a huge
revelation and I think that she decides that ‘I’m going to hang on
to whatever’s left and I’m going to find out what everything means
and establish some semblance of a history for myself and that’s the
way that I’m going to move on whereas my mother has denied
everything.’"
Even though Faith and her mother, Evelyn, have different
feelings about Faith searching out her Jewish relatives, Crystal
believes the two have reached an understanding and that this
difference of opinion has actually brought them closer
together.
"I think that there’s some resolution because Faith is now at
peace with a lot of things and she can be sympathetic to her mother
and in some ways empathetic because Faith now sees, ‘My God! This
is what my mother went through.’ So, in some ways I think they have
come closer, but things are never going to change," Crystal
explains.
While Crystal herself is Jewish and has read several books on
the Holocaust, she admits that she’d never heard of the
Kindertransport before this play. Portraying Faith gave Crystal the
opportunity to learn about a very important part of the Holocaust
that she never knew existed.
"I think it’s a fresh Holocaust story. It was so captivating to
me because I never knew what the Kindertransport was," Crystal
explains. "So, it’s been a huge learning experience, especially
after ‘Schindler’s List.’ I think it’s a learning experience for
everyone. Jewish people won’t be the only ones to get something
from it."
And that’s what Crystal says she believes makes the play so
unique. It’s not just "another Holocaust story." Crystal believes
it’s a new angle.
"I think that the Holocaust has become this sort of ‘we know’
attitude for many people and this play opens up so many new doors
because it’s such a personal story," she claims.
"The play isn’t just about the Holocaust (though)," Crystal
continues. "It’s about mothers and daughters and family and adopted
children and a sense of belonging and a sense of being loved.
There’s so much more (to the story) and the Holocaust is sort of
the catalyst for the play. I just think it’s incredible that it’s a
real story."
Crystal says there are people still living today who were a part
of the Kindertransport and a few of them have attended the show and
then come up on stage and told their stories. Crystal hasn’t
actually met any of the members yet, but she said it was very
interesting to hear them.
This is the closest Crystal has come to knowing anyone who was
alive during the Holocaust. Unlike her character, Crystal doesn’t
have any family who were in the Holocaust. She does however have
several relatives currently living in Russia who long to come to
America to escape growing anti-Semitism there. But, like her
character, she met some of her relatives living in Moscow and
discovered that she, too, had a history she knew very little
about.
"In my family there has definitely been a strong sense of
wanting to find out ‘Where did I come from?’ and wanting to know
the history," Crystal says. "And I think my character just wants to
know her history and her family, too."
STAGE: "Kindertransport." Through June 27 at the Tiffany
Theatre. Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7
p.m. TIX $25-28. For more info. call (310) 289-2999.
Jennifer Crystal stars in "Kindertransport" through June 27.