Westerbork Serenade

In a musical-documentary performance, Westerbork Serenade tells the story of the Jewish musician duo Johnny and Jones, who, in the most miserable circumstances of the Second World War, managed to keep up spirits with their songs and music and thus create solidarity.

The two boys from Amsterdam were pioneers of swing music in the Netherlands and made a splash from 1937 onwards with their Dutch-language, jazzy songs with contemporary lyrics. Their popularity did not prevent them from being arrested by the occupying forces during the Second World War and transported via Camp Westerbork to Bergen-Belsen, where they died of exhaustion within sight of the Liberation.

Even today, musicians in war zones write songs that provide comfort and hope. Westerbork Serenade brings documentary narrator and journalist Roland Vonk, assisted by musical interpreters Peter de Koning, Ted Koninkx and Pieter Ubbels (Trio de Flamingo's), who revive the duo's wonderful, almost timeless songs. Westerbork Serenade thus becomes a swinging musical history lesson that connects the stories of then and now in a light and accessible way, making it a suitable family show for everyone aged 12 and over.