…and Fittko’s Fire

Flaneurs, Fascists and People Smugglers…

Kent to Calais to Kyiv, 1940 to today – a refugee story of hope lost and inspiration found

Small boats, long walks – big lies? What’s happening with refugees right now on the edges of Europe? From dinghies off Kent to shelters in Kyiv and mass drownings in the Central Mediterranean, what’s really going on in the shadow of Europe?

In 2019 Simon Cole went walking in the tragic last footsteps of the famous interwar intellectual Walter Benjamin. As a refugee fleeing the Nazis, this great thinker came to a sad end – for lack of the right paperwork.

It’s a well known story that still resonates today. But on the trail of the doomed Benjamin, Cole stumbled across inspiration in the form of a young and relatively unknown people smuggler. She fought fascists – and won. The journey is still continuing, but the trail has already led him to volunteer in Calais and even wartime Ukraine.

Now, in collaboration with the Hackney artist Sarah Finke, he is bringing this journey to life in the form of a show and a zine. You can find out more by getting in touch, or you can donate here to help people in Ukraine with his NGO (with co-founder David Vannen) By Hand Ukraine.

Hire me to give this topical illustrated talk at your org before it hits the stage? Or collaborate? Get in touch at hackney tours [at sign] gmail dot com OR USE THE FORM BELOW: