In this course we'll deal with the phenomena of Jewish theatrical performance in its various forms during the Holocaust years. Theatrical performance was one of the central cultural and social activities developed by Jews in the ghettos and concentration camps. In private houses in the Warsaw Ghetto different types of performative activities took place: monologues, singing, sketches, and segments from plays. These activities became the first sign of a "renaissance" of Jewish culture under the Nazis. In May 1940 many cafés and night clubs opened in the ghettos, becoming a stage for performances by well-known Jewish and Polish actors of the time. The main style was the kleynkunst (cabaret). In the Warsaw Ghetto, five theater halls opened. In the Vilna Ghetto there was a weekly cultural series, with literary events, exhibitions, a symphony orchestra, and theater performances visited by thousands of people. Important artistic and cultural activities also took place in the other ghettos and in the concentration camps.
The course deals with the theatrical and cultural activity in the lead-up to the Holocaust, in the ghettos and concentration camps, and in the aftermath of the Holocaust. We will try to understand and deal with the different ways in which Jews in this period dealt with their circumstances through performative practices. We will also explore questions raised related to the fact that these cultural activities were taking place parallel to the transports to Auschwitz, the extreme contrast between this world of creative activity and omnipresent death, and the role of art as a coping mechanism with a circumscribing reality