How far
has the
reappraisal
of German
history
really
come?
26 November 1975: The Majdanek trial, file number 8 Ks 1/75, begins in the Düsseldorf District Court – one of the longest and most elaborate trials in German post-war history. After 30 years, former SS guards and concentration camp guards of the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp in Poland are charged for their actions. School classes are also in the courtroom. They are supposed to experience history at first hand. But soon a number of questions arise for Gerrit Niehaus and his classmates: How should the behaviour of those involved in the trial be assessed? How far has the reappraisal of German history really come? And what light does this shed on their future, i.e. our present?
The Theaterkollektiv Pièrre.Vers continues its highly successful work on historical material anchored in the city of Düsseldorf. After ›Schwarz-helle Nacht‹ and ›Aktion:Aktion!‹ the team around director Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen and author Juliane Hendes delves deep into the greatest crime in human history. Powerful testimonies are juxtaposed with legal claims of reappraisal. People who cannot forget meet those who do not want to remember. On the basis of true events, a torrent of opinions and positions gradually develops that reaches far into the present. It lends a decades-long dimension to today’s struggle for the prerogative of interpreting history.
A production by the theatre collective Pièrre.Vers in co-production with the asphalt Festival and the düsseldorf festival, supported by the Performing Arts Fund, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Kunststiftung NRW, the Düsseldorf Cultural Office, the Art and Cultural Foundation of the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf, the Bürgerstiftung Düsseldorf and the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung des Landes NRW, in cooperation with the Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Düsseldorf, the Jewish Community Düsseldorf, the Gesellschaft für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit Düsseldorf e. V. and the Protestant Church District of Düsseldorf. With the kind support of SIGMA.
What the press says:
“Totally touching (…) and an important, cleverly condensed and superbly played performance. I am completely thrilled.”
Stefan Keim – WDR 5 Scala
“Juliane Hendes’ and Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen’s exploration of the longest trial in the history of German law becomes a highlight of documentary theatre.”
Dietmar Zimmermann – theater:pur
with Anna Magdalena Beetz, Julia Dillmann, Paul Jumin Hoffmann, Gosia Konieczna, Christoph Leszczynski, Jonathan Schimmer, Alexander Steindorf, Pablo Vuletić
Director, concept: Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen
Text, dramaturgy: Juliane Hendes
Set, costume: Simone Grieshaber
Composition: Bojan Vuletic
Illustration: Idan Barzilay
Video: Philippe Waldecker
Sound design: Philipp Kaminsky
Production assistance: Nastasia Radtke
