Kalmar Castle Honors Holocaust Remembrance Day Through Lotte Laserstein’s Story
On January 27th, Holocaust Remembrance Day will be commemorated, an international memorial day for Holocaust victims. At Kalmar Castle, the day is connected to the ongoing exhibition ”I, Artist Lotte Laserstein” and the musical theater performance ”Lotte Laserstein, Berlin – Räpplinge”. In connection with the memorial day, the castle aims to highlight a personal life story that reflects the consequences of the Holocaust beyond statistics and history books.
The Life of Lotte Laserstein
Lotte Laserstein was one of Germany’s most recognized artists during the final years of the Weimar Republic. She worked in Berlin during the 1920s and early 1930s, acclaimed for her realistic portraits and ability to capture her contemporary era. When the Nazis came to power, her life fundamentally changed. Despite being baptized and confirmed as a Christian, she was classified as a ”three-quarter Jew” under the Nuremberg Laws and forbidden from teaching, exhibiting, buying art supplies, or selling her art.
Escape and Survival
In 1937, Lotte Laserstein managed to escape to Sweden, a rescue that simultaneously split her life in two. She brought with her some of her most important works and a small sum of money, leaving the rest of her life behind. ”With the rescue to Sweden, my life was broken in two,” she wrote later.
”Sweden is beautiful, the people are nice, but despite all compassion, they are still not touched. No one can fully understand, not even I myself, for what do I know! Despite all friendship and intimate relationships, there is still a distance. And the same distance will separate me – even more – from those who experienced that (in Germany). This is the fate of us emigrants.”
Artistic Legacy
Sweden became Laserstein’s new home. She eventually settled in Kalmar and Öland, where she lived and worked for several decades. Her artistic work received recognition late in life, both in Sweden and internationally. Today, she is considered one of the most significant figurative painters of the 20th century, with her works represented in museums worldwide.
Exhibition and Performance
The exhibition at Kalmar Castle tells Lotte Laserstein’s life story through paintings, documents, and her own words. The musical theater performance ”Lotte Laserstein, Berlin – Räpplinge” allows the audience to meet Laserstein upon her arrival in Sweden in 1937, reflecting on her good years, her family’s fate, and her personal journey.
The castle’s goal is to remind visitors that the Holocaust is not just history, but a collection of individual life stories, and to contribute to memory, reflection, and ongoing conversations about responsibility, humanity, and democratic values.
Exhibition Details
- Location: Sturesalen at Kalmar Castle
- Duration: Until February 22, 2026
Musical Theater Performance
- Location: Borgstugan at Kalmar Castle
- Extra performance added: February 15
