The last witnesses
The Last Witnesses is a contemporary witness project on the Shoah by Doron Rabinovici and Matthias Hartmann in the Vienna Burgtheater . In the presence of six survivors of the Holocaust, actors from the castle read their memorial texts, and towards the end of the evening the elderly contemporary witnesses came to the ramp and spoke a few personal words. In the second part of the evening, the audience was able to ask questions to two contemporary witnesses in three foyer rooms.
The premiere took place on October 20, 2013 - on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the November pogrom in 1938 . The production was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2014 , to the Staatsschauspiel Dresden and the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, and in 2015 to the Schauspiel Frankfurt .
Testimony
"To make forgotten what happened means to want to wipe it out one more time." "It took many survivors decades before they could talk about what they had suffered, and they often fell on deaf ears at first."
Doron Rabinovici: “The idea of bringing contemporary witnesses onto the stage was brought to me by Burgtheater boss Matthias Hartmann. I selected seven people: my mother , Vilma Neuwirth , who survived in Vienna as the daughter of what was then known as a "mixed marriage" but with a star, Marko Feingold , Lucia Heilman , who was hidden in Vienna, Rudi Gelbard , survivor from Theresienstadt, and Ari Rath , who tells a completely different story. It stands for those who lived through the year 38 and managed to get away. Also Ceija Stojka , who unfortunately is no longer alive, but whose memory is very strong, because I also wanted to include the fate of the Roma . "
structure
The project is a hybrid of documentary theater , reading staging and honoring . The strong physical presence of age and fate on the one hand, and the authenticity of the six survivors of the Shoah on the other hand are intended for the listener, who is also the spectator - i. e. The viewer of the faces in enlarged video recordings and the recorded historical photographs - is to lead to a cathartic experience. The simplicity of the staging and its straightforwardness simultaneously condense the horror of the historical events and the individual feeling of witnessing a process of the sublime .
At the same time, processes of identification with the surviving victims are taking place, who, because they survived, defied the omnipotence of the National Socialists and are thus living, because living, witnesses that even the apparently most totalitarian regime in living memory can be survived, defeated and overcome . The subcutaneous idealization of the victims of fascism intensifies and accelerates the formation of a collective of resistance , the audience of the evening. The Burgtheater's nimbus as the Austrian national stage undoubtedly reinforces this pull , although the idea of the Austrian nation as such seems to contain virtually the opposition to ethnic, racial or linguistic nationalisms . In this respect, the political symbolic power of the invitations to Berlin , Dresden and Hamburg should by no means be underestimated, especially since they firstly underline the anti-fascist attitude of the company and secondly, internationalize it.
Cast and dates
| Contemporary witnesses | actor | team | Moderators |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lucia Heilman Vilma Neuwirth Suzanne-Lucienne Rabinovici Ceija Stojka (she died before the premiere in October 2013) Marko Feingold Rudolf Gelbard Ari Rath |
Mavie Hörbiger Dörte Lyssewski Peter Knaack Daniel Sträßer |
Matthias Hartmann Furnishing Volker Hintermeier Stage Lejla Ganic Costumes Peter Bandl Light Moritz Grewenig , Anna Bertsch , Florian Gruber , Markus Lubej Video Andreas Erdmann Dramaturgy |
Doris Appel Martina Maschke Maria Ecker Werner Dreier Peter Huemer Doron Rabinovici Sibylle Hamann Corinna Milborn Andreas Erdmann Rosa Lyon Renata Schmidtkunz |
- Burgtheater Vienna : October 20, November 10 and 21, December 5 and 12, 2013, January 9 and 26, March 15 and 19, April 29, May 8, June 5, November 7, 2013 October 2014 and January 20, 2015
- Berlin Theatertreffen : May 13, 14 and 15, 2014, Haus der Berliner Festspiele
- Staatsschauspiel Dresden : May 17, 2014
- Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg : September 28, 2014
- Schauspiel Frankfurt : February 7th and 8th, 2015
procedure
The evening is divided into two parts: On the big stage of the Burgtheater, readings of the texts of the contemporary witnesses take place in their presence, followed by their personal statements; this takes about two hours. After a 20-minute break - in the 1st and 2nd break foyer, as well as in the Blue Foyer - two contemporary witnesses, one man and one woman, are available to answer questions from the audience together with a moderator.
First part of the evening
“The arrangement of the evening, which Hartmann took care of himself, obeyed a strict choreography: behind several gauze veils on which live close-ups of the faces as well as historical photos were projected, the contemporary witnesses sat in a line with their faces facing the audience. In the front right the actors Mavie Hörbiger, Dörte Lyssewski, Peter Knaack and Daniel Sträßer were waiting for their missions, during which they read from the memories of the Holocaust survivors present. "
“On March 11, 1938, the day of the Schuschnigg speech on the radio, something collapsed. As if the people had thrown off the fetters of civilization on command, they begin to harass their fellow Jews. Neighbors are forced to "rub" the pavement. Lucia Heilman, a little girl at the time, confesses: The hoots of the "Volksgenossen" on Heldenplatz in Vienna had terrified her. "" In the space between, behind the screen, a woman sits and writes on a large roll of paper. The role is very long in the end, a good two hours are spoken. This recording can also be seen on the screen. It is essential to the details of a moving evening. The terror of the Nazis, the extermination of Jews and Roma and all others are still being recorded. No name should be forgotten. "
“The evening set up by Hartmann remains lean and limited to the bare essentials at all times.” “On this evening there are many stories about human abysses and open lust for murder, about a bawling sadism that, for example, enjoyed having Hasidic rabbis to do so force them to do gymnastics in a shop window until they topple over. But that was just the beginning. The deportations of Jews to the concentration camps begin in 1941. ”“ The scenes change in breathless haste: You come from Leopoldstadt to Alsergrund. The bestiality of the Austrian mob receives new nourishment from the systematic expropriation and terror policy of the Nazis. Jews are crammed into collective apartments. Her attitude towards life is: "unimaginable fear". Many commit suicide. Some miss the time of their departure because of the discussion about where they could emigrate to. ”“ But there was the other too. People who helped, such as the Viennese artisan who hid Lucia Heilman until the end of the war, or all the strangers who only briefly enter the picture but still save a life. "" These witnesses have also dealt with their fate in book form, they are evidently not broken by their history. A prominent feature of all of them seems to be confidence, even if, paradoxically, some victims feel guilty. "
“In the end, the lecturers gradually led the protagonists from the background to the front - very moving moments.” “The seventh contemporary witness, Romni Ceija Stojka, died in January this year. Hartmann has found a stage metaphor for this successive disappearance of contemporary witnesses: one survivor after another gets up and leaves when their story is over. Empty armchairs are left behind. "The stage is an aesthetic framework. But the truth can also be disguised through aestheticizations", is how Hartmann describes the tightrope walk of the project. "" For two hours, stories of inhuman cruelty, murders and sometimes absurd happiness come together in a single narrative . "" The theater evening ends in silence, now all the chairs are empty. Afterwards they are all on stage again, standing ovation [see] "
Second part of the evening
“How impressive it is when, after two hours of reading and a short break, in the foyer of the Burgtheater these very survivors actually speak themselves and are awake, very lively and diverse. When the audience huddles together and asks questions, and when, for example, Rudolf Gelbard lets his dark humor shine through and his sharp mind. They are stubborn, these old folks, and young. ”“ One downer, however, remains: After the performance, Rabinovici and Hartmann let the audience have their say as the second part of the project. The result: a series of embarrassing questions that you and the survivors would have liked to have spared. ”“ Suzanne-Lucienne Rabinovici then said in one of the discussions in the foyers, as the APA reports: 'Don't forget us! Pass it on! '"
Program books
The actual program book (volume 1) has 60 pages and contains - in addition to the lists of contributors and the biographies of contemporary witnesses - three contributions by Doron Rabinovici and one by Raphael Gross. On the front page there is a quote from Rudolf Gelbard , on the back there is a photograph of the burning synagogue in Grosse Schiffgasse 8 from November 10, 1938.
The text book for the performance (volume 2) comprises 84 pages and contains the complete text of the production, two photographs of the contemporary witnesses on the stage of the Burgtheater by Reinhard Werner, and - instead of an afterword - two essays, one by Ruth Klüger and one by Anton Pelinka; both are in the anthology What remains of the Shoah? , ed. by Maria Halmer , Anton Pelinka and Karl Semlitsch , published by Braumüller in 2012.
- Raphael Gross : The End of the German-Jewish Era , Vol. 1, 37–41
- Ruth Klüger : On the Holocaust, Children and Human Freedom , Vol. 2, 57-66
- Anton Pelinka : The Perception of the Shoah in Austria , Vol. 2, 66-78
- Doron Rabinovici : November Pogrom , Vol. 1, 26-31
- Doron Rabinovici: March started in February. On Austria's share in the Shoah, Vol. 1, 32–36
- Doron Rabinovici: To Vilna. A Family Journey into Memory, Vol. 1, 42–56
resonance
“The clear and very careful staging grabs the audience of the sold-out Burgtheater deeply.” When “at the end everyone in the hall got up to prolonged applause,” “Standing ovation, the Burgtheater applauds almost never to end. In the light of the past two hours, an almost strange moment. ”On the evening of January 26, 2014:“ The applause for the six women and men […] is long. ”On March 15 and 19, 2014, as well as on On May 8, 2014 there was again a standing ovation .
The criticism was just as impressed: a “dignified, moving and stirring evening, apart from cheap theatrical dismay” (Deutschlandfunk) . "The simplicity of this staging allowed the force of the story to come into its own" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) . “The Burgtheater wouldn't be a state theater if the Austrians didn't learn something about themselves there. And so the evening is also a cathartic exercise that the audience endures with bated breath ” (Die Welt) . A “smart, big, indispensable evening” (Der Standard) . “The memories of fear of death and wickedness, of heroic deeds great and small, of the multiple interaction of courage and luck, fate and chance, which were necessary to escape death again and again, were deeply moving. Horrible stories that keep taking your breath away. ” (Oe24.at) . A “touching evening of memories” (Der Neue Merker) . "You sat in the theater chair yourself and soon wanted to scream." (Night review)
Originally only five evenings were planned, but due to the high level of appreciation and demand from the audience, three additional evenings (on November 21 and December 5, 2013 and March 15, 2014) were added and the series was extended by four more evenings.
Current reference
A few days after the massively controversial academics ball was held , in which right-wing fraternities also took part, organized by the FPÖ in the Vienna Hofburg , within sight of the Burgtheater , and after large parts of the city center had been sealed off, Ari Rath spontaneously decided to change his statement at the big stage:
“On Friday evening, right-wing fraternities under the patronage of Mr. Strache, protected by 2,000 police officers from all federal states, celebrated the so-called academics ball in the Hofburg. They don't want to learn from this country's evil history. The poisonous snake of racism, xenophobia and right-wing nationalism raises its threatening head again. You are here with us for the seventh time, the last witnesses, but the danger outside is far from over. "
Tessa Szyszkowitz sums up: “75 years after the Anschluss in winter 2014, the dignified honor of the last witnesses in the Burgtheater and the unworthy ball of the fraternities in the Hofburg stand in opposition. None of these original Austrian camps will die out so quickly, that is clear. Lots of young people flock to the Burgtheater. During the debate in the break foyer, a student who works in psychiatry asks how 'you can return to normal life after such experiences' and Vilma Neuwirth says:' I had seven years to imagine what I would do when I was that survive. And I've been doing that ever since. '"
Berlin theater meeting
On February 2, 2014, the jury of the Berlin Theatertreffen selected 10 notable productions from 395 visits in the entire German-speaking area that were invited to Berlin, including The Last Witnesses :
“Six Holocaust survivors sit in silence behind a transparent curtain on the stage, their only seemingly motionless faces are projected onto the screen, while four younger actors read out their stories of life and suffering. Photos from Vienna in the 1930s appear: crowds cheering on the Nazis, pictures from the camps with corpses and lost people; Liberation scenes at last. The women and men are between 80 and 100 years old. When their story is told, they step forward and speak a very personal message. This is staged very cautiously in Vienna, dispenses with a theatrical garnish, is narrative in the best sense of the word - and therefore has nothing of dutiful dislocation of memories with automatic concern. "The Last Witnesses" is a haunting but also fragile (theatrical) document. "
On May 17, 2014, The Last Witnesses also appeared at the Dresden State Theater .
Reviews
- Sibylle Hamann : “They didn't want us to come back” , Die Presse , October 23, 2013
- Paul Jandl: Instead of paying, they spat out , Die Welt , October 26, 2013
- Norbert Mayer: The Holocaust: "The Last Witnesses" , Die Presse , October 22, 2013
- Johanna Nittenberg: The last witnesses at the castle ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), Illustrierte Neue Welt , N.4, year 2013
- oe24.at: "The last witnesses" in the Burgtheater , Austria , October 22, 2013
- Stefanie Panzenböck: Seven Lives, Seven Fates , Deutschlandfunk , October 21, 2013
- Ronald Pohl: From the end of civilization in Austria , Der Standard , October 21, 2013
- Teresa Präauer: So that's the person , too , nachtkritik.de , October 20, 2013
- Georg Renöckl: Last witnesses on the stage , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 13, 2013
- Andrea Schurian: Burgtheater: "Relay Run of Remembrance" , Der Standard , October 16, 2013 [preliminary report]
- Lea Stöckli: The last witnesses , Shabka , November 17, 2013
- Tessa Szyszkowitz: Strong witnesses , szylog , January 27, 2014
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ ORF : “The Last Witnesses” in the Burgtheater , October 18, 2013
- ↑ George Renöckl: Last witness on stage , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 13, 2013. Accessed September 6, 2018th
- ↑ Doron Rabinovici in an interview: The stage as the ground above the abyss , Wina , The Jewish City Magazine, November 28, 2013
- ^ "The last witnesses" in the Burgtheater , Austria , October 22, 2013. Accessed on September 6, 2018.
- ^ A b c Ronald Pohl: From the end of civilization in Austria , Der Standard , October 21, 2013. Accessed on September 6, 2018.
- ↑ a b c d Norbert Mayer: The Holocaust: "The Last Witnesses" , Die Presse , October 22, 2013. Accessed September 6, 2018.
- ↑ a b c Paul Jandl: Instead of paying, they spat out , Die Welt , October 26, 2013. Accessed September 6, 2018.
- ↑ a b Johanna Nittenberg: The last witnesses at the castle ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), Illustrierte Neue Welt , N.4, year 2013.
- ↑ Andrea Schurian: Burgtheater: "Relay Run of Memory" , Der Standard , October 16, 2013 [preliminary report]. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ↑ a b Lea Stöckli: Die last Zeugen , Shabka , November 17, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ↑ Teresa Präauer: This is also the person , nachtkritik.de , October 20, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ↑ Stefanie Panzenböck: Seven Lives, Seven Fates , Deutschlandfunk , October 21, 2013. Accessed September 6, 2018.
- ↑ a b c Tessa Szyszkowitz: Strong witnesses , szylog , January 27, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ↑ Der Neue Merker: “The last witnesses” ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , October 28, 2013
- ↑ Burgtheater: Archive for November 2013 ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Der Standard : Burgtheater continues the evening of remembrance "The last witnesses". All performances sold out so far , January 21, 2014
- ↑ Boys with brown spots In: Kurier , February 1, 2013.
- ↑ Berliner Festspiele : Theatertreffen ( Memento of the original from February 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Selection 2014, February 2, 2014
