The Streets Where They Lived’ is a podcast series that brings some Belfast heritage stories to life through new media. It was created in partnership with ‘Best of Belfast’ during Covid-19 lockdowns. Part of the Trust’s aim in delivering this was to reach new audiences and make the city’s heritage relevant to them. 

The six episodes feature stories of some of the city’s notable (but often forgotten) citizens and the buildings and locations with which they are associated. Using the voices of family members and heritage partners alongside archive material, ‘The Streets Where They Lived’ showcases how the personal stories of contributing to the city’s past are relevant for its future. 

* Danny Blanchflower, footballer and sports writer
* Sir Otto Jaffe, businessman and Belfast’s first Jewish Mayor
* Lilian Bland, aviator and engineer
* Sir John Lavery, world-famous painter
* Helen Lewis, cultural doyenne and Holocaust survivor
* Sir Samuel Davidson, industrialist and inventor

‘The Streets Where They Lived’ was made possible with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

A dancer, choreographer and Holocaust Survivor who moved to Belfast after WW2.

Growing up in Czechoslovakia, she witnessed attitudes towards her Jewish friends and family change with the rise of Nazis Germany. When the war broke out, she, her husband and her parents were moved to the Jewish ghetto Terezín before being imprisoned in separate concentration camps — where only she survived.

After Auschwitz, Helen moved to Northern Ireland where she went on to become a dance teacher and the founder of the Belfast Modern Dance Group — a movement which introduced contemporary dance to Northern Ireland and touched the lives of thousands. Her contribution to the life of Belfast was recognised by the award of honorary doctorates from both universities and by her appointment as MBE in 2000.