Woman 2 Flashcards
Evan
Minorities and immigrants are being persecuted, isolated and deported!
WOMAN 2
(Stand next to Evan and Ged)
Protestors and critics of the government are being attacked and imprisoned!
Evan (the second time)
Henry Silberstern from Czechoslovakia. I like to kid around. Especially with my older brother, Rolf. He’s my best friend.
Ellen Lewinsky from Germany. I sew and design my own
clothes. I have a flair for fashion.
(openly)
I’m Erich Arndt. Also German… and always exploring on my bicycle. I’m going to be an engineer. Or maybe a musician. I have perfect pitch.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(smitten, confidentially)
…and a perfect smile.
Boyfriend!!
(Up)
EVAN:
And we are here because others risked their lives to help us.
WOMAN 2
We each have our own story.
But we share what some might call a miracle.✨✨✨
MAN 2
We are all…
ALL
Survivors!
(Sit)
MAN 2/KURT WEINBACH
But life was not enchanted for others in Germany. After being defeated in World War 1, the people are angry. And during the next fourteen years the economy gets worse.
WOMAN 2
But
a politician on the rise pledges to restore Germany to its former glory.
This politician writes a book 📚 and holds rallies playing on the people’s angerS🤬 and fearS.
(Sit)
MAN 3
We’ll never lose our freedoms in Germany. My parents would never vote for that.
WOMAN 2
Mine either. No one would vote to END democracy.
MAN 3
Our freedoms have ended! It’s the beginning of a dictatorship!
WOMAN 2
And there’s a
New
Secret
Police
Force
called the Gestapo!
They’re arresting ALL who challenge ⚔️ Hitler…
and sending them to DACHAU, the first concentration camp🏕️⛺!
Put on glasses
WOMAN 1/ROSEMARIE MARIANTHAL
The next day I’m called to the principal’s office.
WOMAN 2/PRINCIPAL
Rosemarie, you are our best and most popular student.
But you #insulted# ADOLF 🦌 HITLER.
So, I have No CHOICE but to expel you from this school.
We will miss you.
(Put on scarf)
You and your big mouth! Your mother and I are sending you to a private boarding school run by nuns. It’s in Switzerland. You’ll be safe there.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
But we in Germany are not safe… and it’s not just the Jews who are endangered.
Hitler declares there are other “undesirables” poisoning his pure Aryan race.
Gay people, 🏳️🌈
Black people, 🤎
Priests, ⛪
Anyone physically or mentally challenged,
Jehovah Witnesses, and
the Roma and
Sinti people.
We are all hated and persecuted.
Some of you may Experience this KIND of
🤕ABUSE and
🧑🏿⚖️Injustice… and
🫣 Fear.
Ellen Lewinsky. Germany.
Before Hitler, my grandfather owned a market that was always filled with TOWNSPEOPLE.
But with Hitler Now in power 🔌⚡?
(to MAN 3/GRANDFATHER)
(Run to Grandfather and kneel.)
Zeyde, the Lewinsky store is empty 🫙 and the TOWNSPEOPLE won’t Even speak🙊 to us.
Why do they hate us Now?
MAN 3/GRANDFATHER
They want someone to blame for their troubles. And
unfortunately, OUR troubles get worse every week. Over 400 anti-Jewish measures have become law.
We are Now stripped 💃🏾 of our citizenship 🚢.
MAN 3/GRANDFATHER
And BANNED from the military AND the media…
…BANNED from teaching 🎒 🏫 AND going to university 🎓…
MAN 3/GRANDFATHER
…banned from working in civil service and owning businesses.
Our Wonderful grocery.🍌🍎🍇🍅
How will we live?!
We Must leave Germany!
“Change will come”
(Sit)
(to audience)
👀
(Take off scarf)
And right now in America, more books have been banned from schools and libraries than any time in the past several decades. What is the purpose of these crimes against knowledge?
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
For Hitler: it is to stir 🥣 up hatred and divide and grab power ⚡. AND when the president of Germany dies:
Hitler declares himself Fuhrer, THE absolute and uncontested leader.
The next day:
mandatory
loyalty
oaths
are demanded…
Which 🧙🏾♀️ ends all protest 🪧 and dissent.↘️
(Sit)
(Put on scarf)
Yes, WE got out and we are safe… but I didn’t care about what was going on for others in Germany.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
We were kids 👶🏽. We wanted to have fun 🛝… not 🫣fear.
WOMAN 3/ELLEN’S MOTHER
Ellen, get in the house! Stay in the house!
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
Mama, what’s wrong?!
WOMAN 3/ELLEN’S MOTHER
There are new laws for our people. No more playing outside. We can’t go into shops or restaurants now, or even ride in cars.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
I’ve seen signs posted everywhere…
“Jews forbidden!”
“No Jews or dogs allowed!”.
We aren’t dogs!
We’re Germans!
WOMAN 3/ELLEN’S MOTHER
Not anymore. We aren’t allowed to vote or hold public office. Or even raise the German flag.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
We’ll fight back! { stand up}
👀
WOMAN 3/ELLEN’S MOTHER
No! It’s too dangerous. Those who speak out are being arrested. Stay inside for now. This trouble will pass.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(to audience)
This trouble does NOT pass.
It spreads.
Hitler next takes over Austria.
KURT 🍷 Weinbach, Austria.
The very next day, my mother and other Jews line up at three in the morning at the American Consulate to get visas to leave Austria and come to America. But getting a visa can take years. Ours finally came but it was too late.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
Kurt and the rest 😴 of the
“Jews of Austria”
are now subjected to the same hatred and discrimination as the
“Jews of Germany”.
(Sit)
”. Why didn’t we all escape Hitler’s hell. “
(Put on Nun habit get Rosarie, put other habit on chair)
WOMAN 1/ROSEMARIE MARIANTHAL
I am away at the boarding school in Switzerland when I am called to Mother Superior’s office.
WOMAN 2/MOTHER SUPERIOR
Rosemarie, despite your big mouth, you are our best student.
But your FATHER can no longer afford the tuition here…
and you must leave us.
WOMAN 1/ROSEMARIE MARIANTHAL
I can go home!
WOMAN 2/MOTHER SUPERIOR
It’s not that simple. THE NAZIS have passed (-A+-) a new law:
All Jewish passports, including yours, are NOW marked with a “J”.
THE NAZIS want your people to leave ,🍂🍁
Germany… and never return 🪝
WOMAN 1/ROSEMARIE MARIANTHAL
I can never go home?
WOMAN 2/MOTHER SUPERIOR
You’ll be stopped at the border and sent to a concentration camp. ⛺🏕️
It’s horrible what’s happening.
We 🙏🏾 pray every day 🙏🏾 for change.
WOMAN 1/ROSEMARIE MARIANTHAL
I need more than prayers! I need to see my parents and my sisters! Mother Superior, please help me!
WOMAN 2/MOTHER SUPERIOR
God help you, Rosemarie.
Nazis don’t want their Jewish citizens returning home. 🏡
(smiles, getting idea)
But they don’t appear to have anything against nuns ⛪
(Help her with habit, give Rosarie, sit, take off nun habit.)
KRISTALNACHT
(Put on Apron)
”. One day at school “
(Go to near chair)
WOMAN 3/EVIE SCHUERMAN
Papa is not a Jew! We are not inferior! We are Aryans. We are superior!
WOMAN 2/EVIE’S MOTHER
Evie, you will Not say such
wrong and
hateful
things about
“the Jewish people”
or any people.
WOMAN 3/EVIE SCHUERMAN
But my teachers say that. And all the posters and newspapers and films say that.
WOMAN 2/EVIE’S MOTHER
It’s called PROPAGANDA and it’s all lies.
It doesn’t matter what Others do or say 🗣️.
Hatred is Never right.
WOMAN 3/EVIE SCHUERMAN
Well, it wasn’t right for that boy to lie and call Papa a Jew.
WOMAN 2/EVIE’S MOTHER
Sweetheart, ❣️
(Sit her down)
we wanted you to be accepted by your classmates. ♟️
So, to protect you, we raised you Lutheran. But it’s time you know the truth.
Your FATHER is JEWISH.
WOMAN 3/EVIE SCHUERMAN
(horrified)
No! No! I am not a dirty Jew!
WOMAN 2/EVIE’S MOTHER
No one is dirty.
THE NAZIS are just trying to turn 🎡😵💫 you and everyone against “the Jewish people”.
Having different religions and traditions is GOOD, Evie.
Being different is GOOD.
(Cough, Cough)
No matter what THE NAZIS say.
(Sit, take off apron)
WOMAN 1/ROSEMARIE MARIANTHAL
So, I become a wife… to save my life. Young people grow up fast in war.
WOMAN 2/ ELLEN LEWINSKY
Before the war, we young people asked questions like:
“What will I do for a living?”
and
“Will I find love?”
In war R questions R
“ Will I be alive tomorrow?”
and
“ Who else will I lose?”
143
Erich Arndt. Berlin.
(Sit, put on scarf)
“Go to a party with my friends”
(Go to party, look at Ged, whisper)
Even her name is beautiful… (totally smitten)
Ellen Lew-in-sky.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(not smitten, to audience)
IDK this Erich person.
Why is he smiling 😁 at me?
Oy! He’s walking over!
No! Calm down. The handsome ones are always idiots.
MAN 2/ERICH ARNDT
Would you like to literally dance or figuratively dance around the fact that we’re in the middle of a war?
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(to audience, now smitten)
He isn’t an idiot. And we have much in common.
(Walk with him)
I’m a top 🎩 student.
ERICH ARNDT
Me too! But after Hitler rose to power, I had to drop out of school.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
Me too!
(Hold hands)
And by the end of the night 🌃…
MALE 2/ERICH ARNDT
Ellen Lewinsky, we will go to America, have two children, a boy and a girl… (his dream)
… and a Buick.
We are young and in love.
(Holding hands still)
But our enemy is spreading like a cancer.
Germany .Has . Invaded. Poland, and
Helen Prsyskier and
“the POLISH Jews” are now subjected to the terror of THE NAZIS.
(Sit, take off scarf)
“Women help me”
(Help her)
(Sit)
(Put on nazi uniform)
“Blend in with the group”
(Get up, line up)
“And keep your mouth shut”
(March all the way around and put on apron, slowly walk over)
Because of the curfew, I can’t be spotted on the road, so I keep low and crawl over many fields toward home.
WOMAN 2/HELEN’S MOTHER
Helen! Thank god!
WOMAN 1/HELEN PRZYSUSKIER
But we will die there!
WOMAN 2/HELEN’S MOTHER
That is why we have a plan.
We’re going 2
have 2
separate and try 2
escape.
It’s our only Hope to Survive.
MAN 1/HELEN’S FATHER
Good. Now, no tears. Just your wits and STRENGTH now.
WOMAN 2/HELEN’S MOTHER
Fight with all your STRENGTH. 💪
MAN 1/HELEN’S FATHER
Fight for ALL of us.
WOMAN 2/HELEN’S MOTHER
And when this is Over, speak 🗣️ for ALL of us.
(Take off apron, follow lead, sit)
“Jewish families”
(Get star, Get up, get in line last)
“Starve us”
(Sit)
MAN 2/ERICH ARNDT
December 7, 1941. A turning point. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. The U.S. then enters the war… and with America, now on our side, we have hope!
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
But the very next day,
in Poland,
THE NAZIS begin Deporting Jews to Chelmno, the first Extermination camp…
and these families have NO IDEA ☠️ death ☠️ awaits them.
(Sit)
“Castle cars”
(Put on savanie)
“Eva and her family”
(Huddle in center)
My parents, older sisters Agnes and Clara and our little niece Aniko and I arrive exhausted, starving and terrified. We see a sign above the entrance gates to the camp.
WOMAN 2/AGNES VEZER
(reads sign)
“Arbeit Macht Frei”,
Ardeth bay
“why are they separating the men and the women”
(Separate with women)
Where are they taking them?!
I don’t know!
WOMAN 3/EVA VEZER
Why are they shaving off all our hair?!
WOMAN 2/AGNES VEZER
We don’t know, Eva!
Try and stay calm.
What is that smoke?
(Line up in middle)
WOMAN 3/EVA VEZER
A thousand women killed each day to make room for all the new transports from Hungary. We are going to die here.
WOMAN 2/AGNES VEZER
No! We will become shoemakers.
The camp is very muddy. ⛈️
We can sew soles on the shoes 👟 and boots 👢 of the SS… and earn extra bread
(put scarf on head)
My sister Sonya an I
(Get up, go over)
We watch our parents and other captured Jews go by in horse drawn wagon. They are taken to the cemetery and shot.
WOMAN 2
There are the victims of the Holocaust,
the perpetrators of the Holocaust…
and the witnesses of the Holocaust…
who 🤫 SILENTLY Stood by and did nothing.
And there are also our HELPERS, who
hide 🫥 us,
feed us 🥑 and
fight for us 🗡️..
like Arthur.
(Sit down, take off scarf)
Ellen and Erich were forced to become slave laborers in Nazi ammunition factories. But they found a way to fight back.
(Get up, off center)
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
We sabotage THE NAZIS by damaging the PARTS we’re forced to manufacture.
And we also Sneak PARTS out of the factory 🏭 to help the resistance.
The largest ⬆️UP rising is by the Jews HIDING in the Warsaw Ghetto:
WHO 🦉 FIGHT BACK for almost a month!
The women and men of the Jewish armed resistance. What Heroism! What courage!
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
Erich is my hero. 🦸♂️
He leads an ⬆️UPrising in his own family.👨👩👧👦
Family of six
(Hold his hand)
MAN 1/DR. ARNDT
(to Ellen)
Do you know how stubborn he is?!
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
Yes. HE apparently gets it from his father.
MAN 1/DR. ARNDT
(a beat, then smiling)
True. God help us, we will all hide… but we will have to separate.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(to audience)
We IMMEDIATELY go into action. (Walk to end of line)
👨⚕️Dr. Arndt had saved the lives of many patients… including the only child of a grateful couple 👩🏾❤️👨🏼.
They IMMEDIATELY Offer to hide 🫥 Erich’s father.
MAN 2/ERICH ARNDT
Another of my father’s patients owns a small machine shop. He hires me and lets me sleep there. My mother and sister…
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(Walk to center stage)
…and my mother and I, hide 🫥 in many different places… only having to pay once.
We have 40, 2, 50 helpers along the way.
Sometimes it’s a bed 🛏️ for a night or
the gift 🎁 of a cabbage 🥬 from a stranger. 🕵️
(sighs)
Oh, the kindness and courage of a single cabbage 🥬
People we know and people we don’t, risk their lives and the lives of their families 👨👩👧👦to help us.
MAN 2/ERICH ARNDT
And of course, we risk our lives every day. Someone can spot us and report us… and there are paid informants looking for all hidden Jews. So, we create safety measures.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
(Hold hands)
Erich rigs up a warning SYSTEM at the factory 🏭 and devises a code SYSTEM for the phone. ☎️
You never knew who is listening 🎧.
Erich even creates a radio 📻 for us so we knew when Berlin is going to be bombed.
Eventually, we all move into the machine shop… along with my friend, Bruno, who is resourceful at stealing food rations.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
W/ the bombings, there is Almost no food in Germany.
So the rations are for:
Chicken 🐔 Feed… which is filled with mealy worms 🪱
. I cook that Feed every night for everyone and tell them: it’s too dangerous to use the gas ⛽ 🏮lanterns to light our room.
I don’t want them to see the worms 🪱.
We have to Keep UP our strength and
our HOPE. And HOPE
Finally comes June 6 1944.
D DAY!
(Sit)
Eva and her sisters
(Get up go over,help Eva)
WOMAN 1/CLARA VEZER
Eva! Keep marching or they will shoot us.
WOMAN 2/AGNES VEZER
She needs rest… and shoes.
WOMAN 1/CLARA VEZER
Tonight, when they let us stop and sleep, we’ll tear pieces from the blanket and wrap them around her feet.
WOMAN 2/AGNES VEZER
Some of the women are planning 🗺️ to escape to get help. 🏥
Eva is too weak… and needs help. You go.
(pushes CLARA)
Go!
(Get pulled away by Evan, sit down)
No! No! Eva keep marching!
With them comes hope.
Hope! (Stand, get in line, end of line)
MAN 2/KURT WEINBACH
(to audience)
The Allies continue to make critical military gains after the D-Day victory.
ALL
(louder)
Hope!
WOMAN 2
(to survivors)
Paris 🧝🏻♂️ is liberated from the Germans 👹!
We are free
(Hug Evan).
My mother and I were liberated from Bergen-Belsen on my fifteenth birthday. My mother died soon after.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY
It’s estimated that another 200,000 of us survive in hiding 🫥.
143 Erich and
I and
our families in BERLIN…
Karl in POLAND…
(Sit)
ALL
(hopeful)
America!
WOMAN 2
But the U.S. has set strict “QUOTAS”
restricting the # of Jews who can enter.
MAN 2
So much loss and horror. And our lives seemed so hopeless. So, remember this about us… we never gave up hope.
WOMAN 2
And we went on to lead MEANINGFUL lives. We had careers 🦷🪥…
ALL
…got married 💒…
WOMEN
…had children 🍼…
ALL
…great grandchildren 👵🏾👶🏽!
MAN 2/ERICH ARNDT
Ellen and our families were the largest known group of German Jews to survive hiding in Berlin.
WOMAN 2/ELLEN LEWINSKY ARNDT
The impossible can only be possible if you DON’T
GIVE UP. or GIVE UP hope.
WOMAN 1
It’s been an honor for we actors to represent these ten survivors, who are no longer with us. May their memory be a blessing…
WOMAN 2
… and a warning. Hatred can never be normalized.
MAN 3
Will you be an upstander for victims of today’s hate groups and genocides?
WOMAN 2
Will you OFFER that kind cabbage 🥬 to a hungry stranger 🕵️?
WOMAN 1
Will you help?
ALL
Never forget!
Never again!
Never is now!
