Original version

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

Migrated podcast image for: Outlook

Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Outlook: Discovering my mother's heroic past

Magazines & Reviews

Compilation of two old images of Eva Taylor and her mother Sabine on top of blurred handwritten letters

14/04/2022 GMT

Discovering my mother's heroic past

BBC World Service - Outlook, Discovering my mother's heroic past

A box of letters revealed the secret and extraordinary life of Eva Taylor's mother

Eva Taylor always accepted her mother was absent and uninvolved. But her mother’s behaviour made sense when Eva discovered a hidden past of bravery, resilience and resistance.

When Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Sabine Zuur joined the Dutch resistance movement and hid people from the German authorities. She was betrayed and sent to three different concentration camps, but managed to survive. Her daughter Eva Taylor remembers her mother as troubled and often absent. But after her mother’s death, Eva discovered an archive of documents that revealed the details of her mother’s extraordinary life, changing how Eva understood and loved her mother. Eva Taylor has written a book called Sabine's War: The Incredible True Story of a Resistance Fighter Who Survived Three Concentration Camps.

A South African game reserve called Thula Thula was set up by Françoise Malby-Anthony and her husband, Lawrence. They adopted a herd of elephants that had been traumatised by poaching, and were being very destructive. Lawrence and Françoise formed an incredible bond with the elephants, and when Lawrence died in 2012, Françoise noticed the elephants started behaving in an unusual way. This interview was first broadcast in July 2018. 

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

(Photo: Eva Taylor and her mother Sabine. Credit: Eva Taylor)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Outlook

Discovering my mother's heroic past

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

About BBC World Service