Summary biography
Zdenka is a camp survivor. She witnessed the Nazi invasion of Czechslovakia from her bedroom window. Zdenka was in several concentration camps and labour camps, including Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. She was liberated from Bergen-Belsen by the British forces.
On the 13th June 1942 Zdenka was given a tin ring by her first love Arno, while they were both in a concentration camp. Arno told her “This is our engagement ring, it will protect you. If we, we survive the war, I will find you.” They shared a kiss and then he was gone. Arno did not survive, but Zdenka kept the ring for the rest of her life.
Zdenka died on the 14th November 2022. She was 100 years old. RIP.
‘Calmness is strength. You have a choice. If things are tough, you can be sorry for yourself and go under, or, you can look it in the face, You accept the situation, you adjust to it, and you don’t question it, and you apply your every possible strengths – and the brain helps you – to overcome every difficulty, whatever is presented to you. It is your attitude to life. Things happen in normal life. There are tragedies. There are deaths in the family, there’s a loss of work, there’s a loss of love. There is fire in the house. Don’t despair.
Zdenka Fantlova
Artistic responses
2021 Festival overview & film
We worked across 5 areas, expanding geographically, from Birmingham and Coventry to include North Warwickshire, Liverpool and London.
Horizons – Live performance film
Re-live Horizons at Town Hall Birmingham, by CORE Education Trust, Dulwich College and LIPA Students, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Autin Dance Theatre
