Professor Mamlock (play)
Encyclopedia
This article is about the play. For the film by Herbert Rappaport
, see Professor Mamlock (1938 film)
. For the film by Konrad Wolf
, see Professor Mamlock (1961 film)
.
Professor Mamlock is a theater play written by Friedrich Wolf at 1933. Portraying the hardships a Jewish doctor named Hans Mamlock experiences under the Hitler regime, it is one of the earliest works dealing with Nazi antisemitism.
The personnel and patients in the clinic discuss the political situation. Ruof and Hellpach support Hitler, while Hirsch and Seidel believe his rise to power will lead to war. Mamlock arrives and forbids conversation about politics in the institute.
Rolf claims the Nazis had organized the Reichstag Fire
; he and his father, who disapproves of his political stance and activism, have a heated argument, in the end of which Rolf must move out of the residence. Simon arrives and announces that the SA are searching the clinic for 'non-Aryan' doctors. The government decrees that all communists, pacifists, Jews and other opponents of the new regime will be banned from practicing medicine and holding other offices. Ruoff declares she will not be willing to work under a Jew; Hellpach leaves the clinic to join the SS.
Mamlock is not allowed to enter his clinic by law, while his daughter Ruth is attacked at school. Ruth and Ellen realize that their early, idealistic support of the Nazis was misguided. When Mamlock attempts to talk with Hellpach, who now runs the institute, he encounters a group of SA men who molest him. He returns home a broken man, carrying a Yellow badge
.
A new government decree lifts the working ban from all veterans of the First World War. Mamlock and Hirsch return to the clinic. There, Hellpach announces that all 'non-Aryans' who are not subject to the decree will be dismissed. Simon loses his work. Mamlock is revolted by this, and demands justice. He organizes a petition in which he calls upon the government to treat all citizens equally. Hellpach is enraged, and demands from all other personnel to sign an affidavit according to which Mamlock is guilty of various crimes. Mamlock is shocked to see that they all agree to do so - except Ruoff, who rejects her Nazi convictions. He realizes that his friends have abandoned him. Exasperated and despaired, Mamlock tells Inge that she and his son should fight for a better future. Then, he commits suicide.
's theater group Truppe 1931. He completed Professor Mamlock while vacating in Île-de-Bréhat
. The playwright later told that he conceived the play on the very day after the Fire, when many of his friends called him, blaming him of being a communist and a sympathizer to those who set the Parliament aflame. Consequently, they severed all contacts with him.
While the character of Mamlock bears resemblance to the author himself - a Jewish doctor, married to a non-Jewish wife - there was a real man named Professor Hans-Jacques Mamlok (12 April 1875, Koschmin
- 11 November 1940, New York) who served as the director of the Dentistry Faculty in the University of Berlin before the NSDAP's takeover. He emigrated to the United States, arriving three days after the opening of Professor Mamlock in New York, at 1937; although he claimed that the play was based on his life, it is unknown whether Wolf was in inspired by him.
The play is considered as one of the earliest artistic treatments of the persecution of Jews in Germany.
; André van Gyseghem
and Marie Seton
, who traveled from Moscow after securing the rights for an English-language production from Wolf, attended the performance. The next stage adaptation - directed by Leopold Lindtberg
under the title Professor Mannheim - was in Hebrew
, in Tel Aviv
's Habima Theatre, and premiered on 25 July 1934 with Shimon Finkel in the main role. Lindtberg also directed the first German-language production, which was held in Schauspielhaus Zürich
at 8 December later that year, again by the name Professor Mannheim. Swiss Nazis disturbed the performances: on several occasions, stench bombs were thrown at the stage. When a cheap-ticket performance was carried in Zürich's Stadttheater
, armed riot police had to secure the location, making more than a hundred arrests.
Professor Mamlock was translated to English by Anne Bromberger in 1935. In Britain, the play was approved by the Lord Chamberlain
Cromer
, but its planned performance in the Westminster Theatre
at 1935 did not take place, apparently due to silent pressure from the Foreign Office on the background of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
. It was staged there again at 1939. The English-language version of the play, organized by Federal Theatre Project
's Jewish Theater Unit and starring Joseph Anthony
, eventually premiered in New York's Experimental Theater
on 13 April 1937, where it ran for seventy-six performances.
In Sweden, which banned explicit antifascist works due its neutrality and fears from the right-wing press' reaction, Professor Mamlock was the only such play allowed to be performed. Between 1935 to 1943, it was also staged in theaters in Tokio
, Moscow
, Amsterdam
, Paris
, Madrid
, Johannesburg
, Basel
, Oslo
, Shanghai
, Chongqing
and other cities, being viewed by millions. It was the first ever foreign play to be performed in Kazakhstan
, where it was produced during the Second World War. After the end of the war, the drama had its German premiere in Berlin's Hebbel Theater, on 9 January 1946, starring Walter Franck.
Wolf was awarded the National Prize of East Germany
2nd degree at 25 August 1949 for the writing of Professor Mamlock, and the play was entered into the country's schools' curriculum.
directed the first screen adaptation of Professor Mamlock
, filmed in the Soviet Union
by the Lenfilm
Studio. It starred Semyon Mezhinsky in the title role. A radio drama based on the play was broadcast on Berliner Rundfunk
when Wolf worked there as a director. It was aired on 8 November 1945 and had many re-runs. At 1961, the author's son Konrad Wolf
directed a second film based on the play
, made in East Germany, with Wolfgang Heinz as Mamlock.
Herbert Rappaport
Herbert Rappaport , known in the Soviet Union as Gerbert Moritsevich Rappaport, was an Austrian-Soviet screenwriter and film director....
, see Professor Mamlock (1938 film)
Professor Mamlock (1938 film)
This article is about the 1938 film. For the play upon which it was based, see Professor Mamlock . For the film by Konrad Wolf, see Professor Mamlock ....
. For the film by Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf was an East German film director, son of Friedrich Wolf, brother of Markus Wolf....
, see Professor Mamlock (1961 film)
Professor Mamlock (1961 film)
This article is about the 1961 film. For the play upon which it was based, see Professor Mamlock . For the film by Herbert Rappaport, see Professor Mamlock .Professor Mamlock is an East German drama film...
.
Professor Mamlock is a theater play written by Friedrich Wolf at 1933. Portraying the hardships a Jewish doctor named Hans Mamlock experiences under the Hitler regime, it is one of the earliest works dealing with Nazi antisemitism.
Characters
- Professor Hans Mamlock, a renowned Jewish surgeon and a decorated WWI veteran, holds conservative political views.
- Ellen Mamlock, the professor's non-Jewish wife, holds right-wing views.
- Rolf Mamlock, the professor's son, a committed communist.
- Ruth Mamlock, the professor's daughter, holds right-wing views.
- Doctor Friedrich Carlsen, attending physicianAttending physicianIn the United States, an attending physician is a physician who has completed residency and practices medicine in a clinic or hospital, in the specialty learned during residency. An attending physician can supervise fellows, residents, and medical students...
who supervises Mamlock's staff in the clinic and his long-time friend. - Doctor Hirsch, a Jewish physician in the clinic.
- Doctor Hellpach a physician in the clinic, holds right-wing views.
- Doctor Inge Ruoff a female physician in the clinic and a member of the Nazi Party.
- Nurse Hedwig, the clinic's nurse.
- Simon, a Jewish medic in the clinic.
- Werner Seidel, editor of a liberal newspaper, undergoing an operation in the clinic.
- Ernst, a communist, Rolf's friend.
Act I
Before the May 1932 elections, in Mamlock's clinic.The personnel and patients in the clinic discuss the political situation. Ruof and Hellpach support Hitler, while Hirsch and Seidel believe his rise to power will lead to war. Mamlock arrives and forbids conversation about politics in the institute.
Act II
28 February 1933. Mamlock's house.Rolf claims the Nazis had organized the Reichstag Fire
Reichstag fire
The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933. The event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany....
; he and his father, who disapproves of his political stance and activism, have a heated argument, in the end of which Rolf must move out of the residence. Simon arrives and announces that the SA are searching the clinic for 'non-Aryan' doctors. The government decrees that all communists, pacifists, Jews and other opponents of the new regime will be banned from practicing medicine and holding other offices. Ruoff declares she will not be willing to work under a Jew; Hellpach leaves the clinic to join the SS.
Act III
April 1933. Mamlock's house.Mamlock is not allowed to enter his clinic by law, while his daughter Ruth is attacked at school. Ruth and Ellen realize that their early, idealistic support of the Nazis was misguided. When Mamlock attempts to talk with Hellpach, who now runs the institute, he encounters a group of SA men who molest him. He returns home a broken man, carrying a Yellow badge
Yellow badge
The yellow badge , also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism...
.
Act IV
The next day, in the clinic.A new government decree lifts the working ban from all veterans of the First World War. Mamlock and Hirsch return to the clinic. There, Hellpach announces that all 'non-Aryans' who are not subject to the decree will be dismissed. Simon loses his work. Mamlock is revolted by this, and demands justice. He organizes a petition in which he calls upon the government to treat all citizens equally. Hellpach is enraged, and demands from all other personnel to sign an affidavit according to which Mamlock is guilty of various crimes. Mamlock is shocked to see that they all agree to do so - except Ruoff, who rejects her Nazi convictions. He realizes that his friends have abandoned him. Exasperated and despaired, Mamlock tells Inge that she and his son should fight for a better future. Then, he commits suicide.
Writing
Wolf wrote Professor Mamlock shortly after the Reichstag Fire forced him to leave Germany for exile in France; he intended his work to be staged by Gustav von WangenheimGustav von Wangenheim
Gustav von Wangenheim was a German actor, screenwriter and director.- Life :Wangenheim was born Ingo Clemens Gustav Adolf Freiherr von Wangenheim in Wiesbaden, Hesse, to parents Eduard Clemens Freiherr von Wangenheim and Minna Mengers...
's theater group Truppe 1931. He completed Professor Mamlock while vacating in Île-de-Bréhat
Île-de-Bréhat
Île-de-Bréhat is an island located near Paimpol, a mile off the northern coast of Brittany. Administratively, it is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France....
. The playwright later told that he conceived the play on the very day after the Fire, when many of his friends called him, blaming him of being a communist and a sympathizer to those who set the Parliament aflame. Consequently, they severed all contacts with him.
While the character of Mamlock bears resemblance to the author himself - a Jewish doctor, married to a non-Jewish wife - there was a real man named Professor Hans-Jacques Mamlok (12 April 1875, Koschmin
Kozmin Wielkopolski
Koźmin Wielkopolski is a town in Krotoszyn County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 6,718 inhabitants ....
- 11 November 1940, New York) who served as the director of the Dentistry Faculty in the University of Berlin before the NSDAP's takeover. He emigrated to the United States, arriving three days after the opening of Professor Mamlock in New York, at 1937; although he claimed that the play was based on his life, it is unknown whether Wolf was in inspired by him.
The play is considered as one of the earliest artistic treatments of the persecution of Jews in Germany.
Stage productions
Truppe 1931 was dissolved before it could produce Professor Mamlock, and Wolf's piece was first performed in Yiddish, on the stage of the Warsaw Yiddish Art Theater at 19 January 1934, under the title The Yellow BadgeIn the original play, Mamlock was forced to wear the badge. In the film adaptations and in several stage productions, his surgeon's robe was emblazoned with the word "Jew"; alternatively, he had to carry a sign with the inscription. and starring Alexander GranachAlexander Granach
Alexander Granach was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s.- Biography :Granach was born Jessaja Granach in Werbowitz to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin...
; André van Gyseghem
Andre Van Gyseghem
André van Gyseghem was an English actor and theatre director who also appeared in many British television programmes.- Early life :...
and Marie Seton
Marie Seton
Marie Seton was a film critic and biographer of Sergei Eisenstein, Paul Robeson, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Satyajit Ray.In 1935 she helped to establish the reputation of Ronald Moody....
, who traveled from Moscow after securing the rights for an English-language production from Wolf, attended the performance. The next stage adaptation - directed by Leopold Lindtberg
Leopold Lindtberg
Leopold Lindtberg was an Austrian Swiss film and theatre director...
under the title Professor Mannheim - was in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
's Habima Theatre, and premiered on 25 July 1934 with Shimon Finkel in the main role. Lindtberg also directed the first German-language production, which was held in Schauspielhaus Zürich
Schauspielhaus Zürich
The Schauspielhaus Zürich is one of the most prominent and important theatres in the German-speaking world. It is also known as "Pfauenbühne" after its location on the Pfauen Square in Zürich, Switzerland. The large theatre has 750 seats...
at 8 December later that year, again by the name Professor Mannheim. Swiss Nazis disturbed the performances: on several occasions, stench bombs were thrown at the stage. When a cheap-ticket performance was carried in Zürich's Stadttheater
Zurich Opera House
Opernhaus Zürich is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. It has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891.- History :...
, armed riot police had to secure the location, making more than a hundred arrests.
Professor Mamlock was translated to English by Anne Bromberger in 1935. In Britain, the play was approved by the Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
Cromer
Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer
Rowland Thomas Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer, GCB, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ADC was the son of Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer.During World War I he served as a subaltern in the Grenadier Guards...
, but its planned performance in the Westminster Theatre
Westminster Theatre
The Westminster Theatre was a London theatre, on Palace Street in Westminster. It was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, which was altered and given a new frontage for use as a cinema from 1924 onwards. It finally became a theatre in 1931 after radical alterations...
at 1935 did not take place, apparently due to silent pressure from the Foreign Office on the background of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
. It was staged there again at 1939. The English-language version of the play, organized by Federal Theatre Project
Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Theatre Project was a New Deal project to fund theatre and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration...
's Jewish Theater Unit and starring Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony was an American playwright, actor, and director. He made his film acting debut in the 1934 film Hat, Coat, and Glove and his theatrical acting debut in a 1935 production of Mary of Scotland...
, eventually premiered in New York's Experimental Theater
Daly's 63rd Street Theatre
Daly's 63rd Street Theatre was a Broadway theater, which was active from 1921 to 1941. It was built in 1914 as the 63rd Street Music Hall and had several other names between 1921 and 1938. The building was demolished in 1957.-History:...
on 13 April 1937, where it ran for seventy-six performances.
In Sweden, which banned explicit antifascist works due its neutrality and fears from the right-wing press' reaction, Professor Mamlock was the only such play allowed to be performed. Between 1935 to 1943, it was also staged in theaters in Tokio
Tokio
Tokio is an alternative spelling for Tokyo, the capital of Japan, used primarily in non-english speaking countries.Tokio may also refer to:-Music:*Tokio , a Japanese pop/rock band**Tokio , the debut by Tokio...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
and other cities, being viewed by millions. It was the first ever foreign play to be performed in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, where it was produced during the Second World War. After the end of the war, the drama had its German premiere in Berlin's Hebbel Theater, on 9 January 1946, starring Walter Franck.
Wolf was awarded the National Prize of East Germany
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement...
2nd degree at 25 August 1949 for the writing of Professor Mamlock, and the play was entered into the country's schools' curriculum.
Adaptations
At 1938, Herbert RappaportHerbert Rappaport
Herbert Rappaport , known in the Soviet Union as Gerbert Moritsevich Rappaport, was an Austrian-Soviet screenwriter and film director....
directed the first screen adaptation of Professor Mamlock
Professor Mamlock (1938 film)
This article is about the 1938 film. For the play upon which it was based, see Professor Mamlock . For the film by Konrad Wolf, see Professor Mamlock ....
, filmed in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
by the Lenfilm
Lenfilm
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...
Studio. It starred Semyon Mezhinsky in the title role. A radio drama based on the play was broadcast on Berliner Rundfunk
Berliner Rundfunk
The Berliner Rundfunk was a radio program set in East Germany. It had a political focus and discussed events in East Berlin. Today it is a commercial radio station broadcast with the name "Berlin Rundfunk 91.4".- History :...
when Wolf worked there as a director. It was aired on 8 November 1945 and had many re-runs. At 1961, the author's son Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf
Konrad Wolf was an East German film director, son of Friedrich Wolf, brother of Markus Wolf....
directed a second film based on the play
Professor Mamlock (1961 film)
This article is about the 1961 film. For the play upon which it was based, see Professor Mamlock . For the film by Herbert Rappaport, see Professor Mamlock .Professor Mamlock is an East German drama film...
, made in East Germany, with Wolfgang Heinz as Mamlock.
Interpretation
Peter Bauland commented that the play portrayed the slow, belated transformation of Mamlock from an a-political person who refuses to acknowledge the reality of the Nazi rule and who keeps having faith in the state to a man who realizes the severity of the situation, after enduring countless humiliations; when Mamlock understands that his faith in law and order is misplaced, it is too late. Wolf contrasted the doctor with his son, the active communist Rolf, who urges to resist the new regime by all means, although his father refuses to listen. Rolf's political convictions reflected Wolf's ideology, and Professor Mamlock had an unambiguous political agenda: "The play was, unfortunately, also filled with gratuitous leftist propaganda that added nothing to the drama". John Rodden defined it as a "committed" communist work. When it was taught in East German schools, the teachers were instructed to stress out "the lame resistance to the rise of Hitler by the Weimar Republic and neutral, liberal-humanist professors such as Mamlock." As noted by Manuela Gerlof, the character of Mamlock "embodied the humanist bourgeois." Wolf himself wrote that he aimed the play at "our country's twelve million Mamlocks - the little middle-class intellectuals," and claimed that the a-political, lethargic conduct of those not only allowed the Nazis to maintain power, but led them to it in the first place. According to Gerlof, while using the Jewish environment as a setting, Wolf's play targeted the German conservative worldview as a whole. This was also evidenced by the additional title of the play's edition printed in Zürich at 1935: Doktor Mamlocks Ausweg. Tragödie der westlichen Demokratie (Dr. Mamlock's Way Out. A Tragedy of Western Democracy).External links
- Friedrich Wolf: Professor Mamlock, A Play. Full text on friedrichwolf.de.