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Introduction

The Holocaust has been portrayed in fiction, film, memoirs and poetry; however, there has been a lack of information about the theatre of the Holocaust.

The immediacy of theatre affects us emotionally, subliminally and intellectually, in a direct way that few other art forms can duplicate.

Risen Like The Phoenix From The Ashes

In the outset of the Jewish congregation in Amsterdam, there appeared to be a semblance of growing, renewal and revival, like the legendary phoenix in the play “Diálogo dos Montes” - “The Controversy of the Mountains” which was written in Amsterdam in the Portuguese language by Rehuel Jessurun. The play was performed in the Beth Jaacob synagogue in the year 1624. It is about seven mountains arguing on which of them the Torah will be given.

After the introduction in which are speaking the earth, the seven mountains and Jehosaphat who is the judge in the dispute, each mountain expresses in his sermon his arguments before the judge. Subsequently the choir representing the people of Israel, speaks.

After the sermon of mount Hahar, the people of Israel turn to him and say: “what is the miracle that this fire will keep spreading until we, like the phoenix, will be reborn from the cold ashes”?

At the end of the sermon of mount Grizim the people express the hope that “the sun that is now hidden will cause the growing of new branches from the dry roots”.

At the concluding sermon judge Jehosaphat rules that Mount Sinai is the winner and hopes that from the ruins of the holy temple “will rise the divine creation, like the phoenix reborn from the ashes”.

The play was written by Rehuel Jessurun (originally named Paulo de Pina), born in Lisbon in a conversos family. He was the founder of the Beth Jaacob congregation in Amsterdam, together with Saul Levi Morteira, the rabbi of the congregation, who wrote the sermons of the play and whose pupils were Baruch Spinoza and Moses Zacuto.

Mission

The Holocaust Theatre Online Collection: 'Theatre about life and hope', is a uniquely accessible teaching tool that will educate a new generation about a little-known aspect of the Holocaust.

Despite unspeakably difficult circumstances, Jewish actors, singers, musicians, dancers, filmmakers and other artists regularly performed in the Nazi ghettos and concentration camps. Their remarkable creative output was a triumph of the human spirit over barbarism.

UNESCO

UNESCO applauds this innovative initiative, which highlights the astonishing power of art and creativity to prevail over hatred, destruction and genocide. In so doing, it forges dynamic links between the past, present and future.

Read full letter of support here

Homepage Pilot 5 Time Zones here

25 Topics here

Search by A-Z

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A new invitation to “Come to the Cabaret” By Judi Herman (Play) read here

An English Tragedy tell the true story of John Amery By Judi Herman (Play) read here

An intimate portrait of Jewish family life in pre-war New York by Judi Herman (Play ) read here

Another Look at Terezin Through Song and Sorrow By Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

Anther tale of Holocaust survivors: Eavedropping on Dreams by Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

A Surreal Take on the Holocaust By Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

B

Brian Silberman's play 'Manifest' (Play) read here

C

Candida's journey into her own family past by Judi Herman (Play) read here

Charlotte Salomon's Life? or Theater? A theatrical vision in picture, word and music.by Gideon Ofrat (Artist) read more

Come to the Thereisenstadt cabaret by Noam Ben Ze'ev (Music) read here

Compulsion:'The Diary of Anne Frank ' From Another Perspective By Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

D

David Natale in The Westerbork Serenade (Solo Performance) read here

Diane Samuels' Kindertransport at Echo Theatre -Dallas (Play) read here

Do we punish an evil deed long after it is history? by Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

Dr Korczak’s Example David Greig's Moving Holocaust story simply told for a young audience by Judi Herman (play) read here

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Falling Bodies:An imaginary meeting between Galileo Galilei and Primo Levi By Irene Backalenick (Music) read here

G

Golgotha- Holocaust monodrama by Dr. Shmuel Refael (Solo Performance) read here

H

Holocaust-era musical of sardonic remembrance By Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

I

I Am A Camera looking through Christopher Isherwood’s lens to see much more than Cabaret without the songs By Judi Herman (Play) read here

I Can Cry! a powerful Holocaust memory .(Solo Performance) read here

If The Whole Body Dies: Raphael Lemkin and the Treaty Against Genocide  by Robert Skloot (Play)  read here

Irena Gut: An ordinary girl doing extraordinary things under extraordinary circumstances by Miri Ben-Shalom (Play) read here

J

J. Robert Oppenheimer Explodes on the Met Stage by Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

Jewish Cultural Centres in Nazi Germany by K. K. Duewell (Article ) read here

Jonathan Lichtenstein shares some of the memories that inform his play ‘Memory’ by Judi Herman (Play) read here

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M

Mamet Strikes again--“Race” on Broadway By Irene Backalenick (Play) read more 

Michael Halperin's " Mela "(Solo Performance) read here

Morag McLaren in Tonight-Lola Blau (Solo Performance) read here

N

Naava Piatka - Better Don't Talk!(Solo Performance) read here

O

Olga's Room, a searing play about an extraordinary Jewish heroine on both sides of the Atlantic
by Judi Herman (Play) read here

Our Class by Tadeusz Slobodzianek:Unsparing account of a wartime massacre and its repercussions by Judi Herman(Play) read here

P

Paul Webster in Hitler Alone (Solo Performance) read here

Q

R

Razia Israely in The Dentist (Solo Performance) read here

Remembering a Forgotten Hero: Aristides de Sousa Mendes By Judi Herman (Play) read here

Richard Greenberg’s “The American Plan” By Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

S

Sendak and Kushner Let Humor Get Through by Mel Gussow (Article ) read here

Shelley Mitchell in Talking with Angels (Solo Performance) read here

Simon Wiesenthal  Nazi Hunter (Solo Performance) read here

Steve Lambert in The Devoured (Solo Performance) read here

Susan Stein in Etty (Solo Performance) read more

T

Terezin, the greatest farce ever by Jacobo Kaufmann (Topic) read here

The Captain of Köpenick - Carl Zuckmayer by Judi Herman (Play) read here

The Glass Room by Ryan Craig at the Hampstead Theatre London, by Judi Herman (Play) read here

The excellent Tovah Feldshuh in “Irena’s Vow” by Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

Ten thousand Jewish children who escaped Nazi Germany on London Stage Kindertransport by Judi Herman (Play) read here

The Jewish Kulturbund Theatre in Nazi Berlin By Rebecca Rovit (Topic) read here

The many voices behind the Anne Frank legacy by Rachel Viola (Artist) read here

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Judi Herman (Play) read here

'This Is a Man' on Film, Premieres on HBO Television by Irene Backalenick (Film) read here

Three Sisters on Hope Street after Anton Chekov by Judi Herman (Play) read here

“To Be an Actress" by Nava Shean :An Israeli Actress Tells Her Story by Irene Backalenick (Book) read here

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W

'Way to Heaven' Explodes Off-Broadway by Irene Backalenick(Play) read here

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Now on Stage by Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

Who Are “The Right Kind of People”? Bigotry Spelled Out in a New York Coop By Irene Backalenick (Play) read here

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