Contemporary witness talks about Oskar and Emilie Schindler
Renowned author and contemporary witness Prof Erika Rosenberg-Band speaks at Bocholt's historic town hall
The city of Bocholt invites you to a special lecture in the historic town hall on Thursday, 20 November 2025, at 7 pm. Prof Erika Rosenberg-Band, author, journalist and close confidante of Emilie Schindler, will speak about "Oskar Schindler - Civil Courage in Times of Injustice". Admission is free. Mayor Christian Mangen will open the event with a welcoming address.
Prof Rosenberg-Band became internationally known through her intensive conversations with Emilie Schindler, the wife of Oskar Schindler. In over 70 hours of interviews, Emilie confided in her numerous previously unpublished experiences from the National Socialist era. On this basis, Prof Rosenberg-Band published several books, which are now among the most authoritative works on the Schindler couple. She was honoured for her work with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Austrian Holocaust Award.
Oskar Schindler, whose story became known worldwide through the film Schindler's List, saved more than 1,200 Jews from being murdered by the Nazi regime together with his wife. To this day, their story symbolises courage, humanity and moral responsibility in times of terror and the greatest threat. Sigmar Seif from Bocholt also survived because his name was on the famous transport list. Sigmar Seif was liberated by the Red Army on 10 May 1945. He then began a new life with his wife Rosetta in Overschie near Rotterdam. In 1953, they emigrated to the USA with their daughter. Sigmar Seif died in Paterson/New Jersey in 2009 at the age of almost 97.
In her lecture, Prof Rosenberg-Band will shed light on the personality of the Schindlers from a unique perspective. She will impressively demonstrate what civil courage means and why it is more relevant than ever today.
The evening is organised in cooperation with the Verein für Heimatpflege Bocholt e.V. and the Volkshochschule Bocholt-Rhede-Isselburg and is funded by the "Vielfalt (mit)gestalten" project by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
© Prof. Erika Rosenberg
Prof Rosenberg became internationally known through her intensive discussions with Emilie Schindler, the wife of Oskar Schindler.