‘We have to move on’ was a partnership project between Suffolk Archives, the National Horseracing Museum (NHRM) and Orchestras Live. The project was based on the memoir of Fritz Ball, a Jewish refugee living with his wife Eva at a refugee hostel at Palace House Stables in Newmarket from 1939 to 1942.
Summary
‘We have to move on’ was a partnership project between Suffolk Archives, the National Horseracing Museum (NHRM) and Orchestras Live. The project was based on the memoir of Fritz Ball, a Jewish refugee living with his wife Eva at a refugee hostel at Palace House Stables in Newmarket from 1939 to 1942. Fritz Ball’s passion for music and his cello were a key theme running through the memoir. Working alongside a composer, choreographer and professional orchestra Britten Sinfonia, local young people created and performed a new piece of music and dance inspired by Fritz’s account of life at Palace House Stables.
The challenge
To create a meaningful collaboration to show the significance of the archives, which are very rare, and to reflect the interest of the individuals through partnering with arts organisations and artists.
The solution
‘We have to move on’ was a partnership project between Suffolk Archives, the National Horseracing Museum (NHRM) and Orchestras Live to tell the story of Fritz Ball and his wife Eva, Jewish refugees living in the Palace House Stables. The Stables is now home to the NHRM, who joined the project in its infancy. The museum had little information about the hostel and wanted to learn more about the building’s history and the stories it contained. The account is of particular importance as very little is known about the refugee hostel, with no records having survived from the organising committee.
One starting point was to identify other people that lived with Fritz and Eva; using the 1939 Register, the project team were able to identify another 23 people listed as living there. Working with volunteers and the Suffolk Liberal Jewish Community, the partners painted a picture of life at Palace House, which formed the basis of an exhibition at NHRM and played an integral role in developing new school learning resources.
Fritz Ball’s passion for music and his cello were a key theme running through the memoir and the team felt it was important to reflect this in their output. Orchestras Live came on board to produce two filmed concerts inspired by the refugees’ stories. Working alongside a composer, choreographer and professional orchestra Britten Sinfonia, local young people created and performed a new piece of music and dance inspired by Fritz’s account of life at Palace House Stables.
The impact
The project enabled a much greater understanding of the Jewish refugees living at the Palace House stables so that the museum can now develop a much more informed display.
Using arts to explore historical narratives, helps to broaden the audience for archives and often brings another level of emotional engagement.
The remarkable story at the heart of this heritage project has inspired some amazing creativity and performances by young people in West Suffolk, working together with world-class artistic leaders and orchestral musicians."
-Stuart Bruce, Senior Creative Producer at Orchestras Live
How is the new approach being sustained?
The exhibition created a touring display and available for hire. An online display is also available on the Suffolk Archives website. A suite of downloadable resources for use by school students in Key Stage 2 upwards have also been created.
Lessons learned
In spring 2022 Suffolk Archives received a phone call from a member of the public who had seen publicity about this project and realised that photographs she had inherited from her father were of the Palace House Stables refugees. The photographs were taken in June 1941 by William Barton, who lived in nearby Burwell, and was himself married to a Jewish refugee, Friedel Fanger. This was the first time that the project team were able to put faces to some of the names they had been researching for nearly two years; demonstrating the reach of the project beyond the original exhibition and performances and the way that it resonated with local audiences.