Remarkable life of young woman who fled Nazi Germany uncovered in old box found in Yorkshire attic

A box in the attic found forgotten in lockdown was to reveal the incredible poetry and prose of a brave young woman who fled Nazi Germany.

Now, as actor and writer Nicki Davy crowdfunds to share her great-aunt’s remarkable story, it is finally to be brought to life on the boards at Leeds Playhouse.

Eva Metzger was just 15 when she fled before the outbreak of the Second World War, arriving on Britain’s shores in search of sanctuary.

She was to go on to work for the intelligence service, even living with NHS founder Aneurin Bevin on evacuation to his home in Wales.

To Ms Davy there is something incredible in the way her great-aunt’s poetry, plays, short-stories and prose was uncovered, as so many artists and creatives turned inwards.

“My granny moved into a care home in lockdown, my mum was sorting out her things and found a box hidden in the attic filled with her sister’s poetry and words,” she said.

“I just thought ‘my god, this is fascinating’. I was very close to my grandmother. She never really spoke about Eva, who died before I was born, but we found this beautiful poetry, all written in fluent English.

“Discovering this link in my history, well I have daughters of my own and it is important to understand where we come from, culturally. This is also their history.”

Eva, who was Jewish, fled Germany after Hitler came to power and arrived in Eastbourne in 1937. She was 15. Her little sister Ilse, Ms Davy’s grandmother, was to follow a few years later.

“We’ve just discovered this story, of an immigrant passing from pillar to post and never really settling anywhere,” said Ms Davy. “She was German, in the Second World War.

“She didn’t write a single thing in German. She changed her name, from Metzger to Massey, to appear more British. She was never really accepted, never fully welcomed. She even volunteered for the ATS - until they realised she was German and they asked her to leave.

“She lived and worked with Aneurin Bevin, while he was setting up the NHS. Incredibly she was placed in his house during the Blitz, to be his personal secretary.

“It’s just this incredible, coincidental and rich story, punctuated by her beautiful poetry. And the style of her poems changes, from nature to quite war-driven, in her later days.”

Eva spent 14 years in the UK, transferring into the British Intelligence Agency as a translator in war. Sadly she died at the age of 29, after a lump was found in her neck which turned out to be cancerous. She spent her final years on transcripts for the Nuremberg trials.

Ms Davy, having secured Arts Council Funding in 2021, has written a play of Eva’s life and poetry, which was test staged for the first time last year. Now a rewritten version is coming to the Bramhall Rock Void at Leeds Playhouse this April, with tickets for Eva now on sale.

Rachael Halliwell is producer, Leanne Rowley is director, supported by a whole team of Yorkshire creatives for three shows over April 19 and 20.

This is “bucket-list” territory, said Ms Davy. But even with the support of the Playhouse, it can only be staged with public backing, and a Crowdfunder is underway.

The arts climate is “tricky” at the moment, outlined Ms Davy, pledging to “pay it forward” in the creative scene.

“The only way we can do it is to crowdfund,” she said. “It is a local team, everybody is from the region. And it’s incredibly important to me that I pay them properly.”

This is not a Holocaust story, Ms Davy outlined. If anything, it’s a retrospective, as her great-aunt was to spend so much of her time translating German generals in war. Instead, it asks questions, as a reflection. On the NHS, on refugees who come to be displaced.

“She didn’t leave ‘diary’ entries as such,” she said. “Much of it is conjecture, that we have pieced together bit by bit.

“My own granny married a British man, she changed her name, converted her religion. She left it all behind. It very much felt that Eva did the same. It feels very relevant today.”

To support the Crowdfunder search Bring Eva to Leeds Playhouse on GoFundMe.com. Tickets are now on sale for Eva at Leeds Playhouse on April 19 and 20.