The girl from Heksenberg, Dear Settela - theater monologue by Alisa Cuuna

Theater

Date:   to

Location: Heksenberg Community House

Dear Settela is a poignant theatrical monologue by actress and playwright Alisa Cuuna, in which she calls attention to the often forgotten history of the Sinti and Roma during World War II. The performance interweaves the life story of Cuuna herself, struggling with her Roma identity and the prejudices she grew up with, with the tragic fate of Settela Steinbach.

That nine-year-old Sinti girl, born December 23, 1934 in Born/Buchten. She grew up in the caravan camp at Heksenberg; was deported from Camp Westerbork to Auschwitz in 1944 and was murdered there. The girl in the train car, it became an iconic image for "The Forgotten Holocaust. The performance is built around a fictional correspondence between Alisa and Settela. Through these letters, Cuuna connects the horrors of the concentration camps with her own search for identity and recognition. 

She shows that, although her own suffering is incomparable to Settela's, the prejudice and exclusion that Sinti and Roma face still persists.
The monologue is musically supported by Sanne Landvreugd's saxophone, which provides a lyrical and sometimes light-hearted undertone to the otherwise gripping story. "That this poignant story is being told now so around May 4 in Heksenberg, of all places, is extremely important. Never again, that also means now. 

Alisa makes that poignantly clear. It is a beautiful performance around these two Sinti/Roma girls," said Jordy Clemens, Alderman Culture in Heerlen. This performance can be seen Saturday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Community House Heksenberg in Heerlen. The auditorium is open half an hour before curtain-up. Entrance: a free gift. Location: Community House Heksenberg. Hei-Grindelweg 84, 6414 BT Heerlen.

Made possible by the Municipality of Heerlen; the Heritage Year 2025.