Animated short films and illustrations tell stories of six Jewish refugees
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Animated short films and illustrations tell stories of six Jewish refugees

John Hadju and Hedi Argent's escape from Nazi-occupied Europe told in the project alongside tales young Jewish refugees fleeing their homes in the USSR, Iran and Ethiopia,

Francine Wolfisz is the Features Editor for Jewish News.

Six Jewish refugees tell their stories through animated short films and illustrated essays as part of an online project to mark World Refugee Day on Sunday.

Created by Juliet Simmons, a creative consultant and member of Reboot, a UK-based art and culture non-profit, and co-produced with Noam Dromi, the exhibition highlights the objects the refugees took with them as they embarked on a new life.

For seven-year-old John Hadju, it was his beloved teddy bear that accompanied him as he was forced out of his home and into the Budapest Ghetto and, in the years after the Second World War, through the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, his escape to Austria and finally his arrival in London.

Meanwhile for eight-year-old Hedi Argent, who was bullied at school, her doll Susi became her best friend. But when Susi was too large to fit inside her suitcase as her family embarked on a journey from Austria to England in 1938, just before the Anschluss, Hedi instead took Little Susi – the doll belonging to her doll – and it has remained in her possession ever since.

Other featured stories show how young Jewish refugees fled their homes in the USSR, Iran and Ethiopia, taking with them the prized objects reminding them of home.

Hedi Argent
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