The Wunderkind of the Czech theater became an admired actress in the Terezin ghetto.

Vava (Vlaesta) was born in Prague in 1919. Her mother, Magda, encouraged her to cultivate her talent for the stage. Indeed, Vava became the Wunderkind of the theater, performing in dozens of plays in the municipal theater, folk theater, children’s theater, etc. As she grew older, she was drawn into local Bohemian circles. When the occupation began, Vava was dismissed from all her acting roles. She began to perform only for Jews, and thereby developed an affinity for Judaism and Hebrew literature.

In July 1942, Vava was deported to Terezin with her parents and sisters. In the ghetto, she continued to perform, direct, and create theater. She also organized and acted in puppet theater and plays for children and youth. She was involved in many plays, among them Jean Cocteau’s “The Human Voice,” and organized Hebrew song evenings for women. Vava and her sister, Zofka, survived. Vava settled in Israel and performed in the country’s major theaters; she died in 2001.

In retrospect, I understand the absurdity of performing Cocteau’s “The Human Voice.” It’s a play for one actress. The woman talks on the phone with her beloved; it’s their last conversation. And I, with the confused senses of a young actress, parted with her beloved before an audience of people who’d been forcibly separated from their loved ones, and who were taken away the following day on a transport without having a chance to say a word of farewell and parting from their dear ones.

Vava (Nava Schaan) Schoenova

From: Nava Schaan, To Be an Actress, Tel Aviv, Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1991 (Hebrew)

Performing in Cocteau’s “The Human Voice,” 1946