Vera Haymann’s "Theater in Chains"

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Winnie Meyer-Ricard, the eldest daughter of Vera Haymann and Herbert Meyer-Ricard. After nightfall in German-occupied Amsterdam, a small group of friends risked their lives to engage in a unique form of resistance: puppet theater. Behind the darkened windows of a safe-house, marionettes built by graphic designers Vera Haymann and Herbert Meyer-Ricard acted out biting satires of the bitter circumstances unfolding outside. This “fettered theater” gave the audience a glimmer of hope and solidarity in a time of darkness. The Hermann Haymann Collection in the LBI Archives includes two vivid, hand-illustrated booklets which document Vera Haymann and Herbert Mayer-Ricard’s life in hiding in Amsterdam. See them online at lbi.org/haymann