Way to Heaven (play)
Encyclopedia
Way To Heaven is a 2004 play by the award-winning Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga.
The play is about a notorious incident in 1944 in which a delegation from the International Red Cross
visited the Theresienstadt concentration camp
and were duped by the Nazi
camp officials into reporting to the world that conditions were good and that they saw no evidence to support reports of mass murder.
, the play has five sections. It opens with a monologue by the Red Cross inspector. Next we see the series of tableaux concocted by the Nazis to dupe the Red Cross, such as a small girl at play teaching her doll to swim. In the third scene the camp commandant graciously receives the Red Cross visitor (in real life there was a commission with several members, in the play this is represented by a single Red Cross delegate.) "The world", the commandant tells the Red Cross representative, "is moving toward unity". Next, we see the commandant bullying a Jewish prisoner called Gershom Gottfried into producing an opera for the Red Cross visitors. In the final scene, Gottfried urges his terrified players to "focus on their words and gestures" on the piece of theatre they are producing and to ignore the daily trains taking prisoners from Theresienstadt to what the audience knows and the prisoners fear are death camps. "If we do it well", he tells a frightened young performer, "we'll see Mummy again, on one of those trains."
calls Way to Heaven a "a compelling, cunningly constructed play".
nytheatre.com
called Way to Heaven "extremely intelligent and surprisingly evenhanded" in its treatment of the Nazi perpetrators, duped Red Cross commissioners, and Jewish victims.
The New York Times
calls it a "spare, elegant work".
There actually was a Theresienstadt Children's Opera, composed of Jewish children transported to the concentration camp from an orphanage in Prague
, and they did perform for the Red Cross commissioners.
The Germans admitted the Red Cross Commission to the camp at Theresienstadt under pressure from the government of Denmark
, which demanded that the Red Cross investigate reports that its deported Jewish citizens were being murdered. The Germans stalled as long as they could, before agreeing to permit the visit in order to insure the continued docility of their Danish subjects working in war production factories. Shortly before the visit, 7,503 people were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp
to eliminate overcrowding. Theresienstadt was then carefully staged so that the Red Cross visitors saw newly planted flower gardens and freshly painted houses.
The visit to Theresienstadt was only one piece of an accumulating body of information on the reality of The Holocaust
reaching the Red Cross by 1944. What historians consider significant is that despite the amount of evidence already in hand, the Red Cross issued a 15-page report on the Theresienstadt camp that failed to raise the question of whether premeditated mass murder was taking place in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The word Himmelweg (German for path or way to Heaven) was the term used alternately with schlauch (German for hose or tube) at the Nazi death camps to denote the path into the gas chamber
s.
in 2005.
According to The New York Times, the play has been "a hit in Europe and South America".
The play was produced by Equilicuá Producciones in New York City
in 2009.
The play has been produced world-wide, including London, Paris, Madrid, Buenos Aires, New York and, most recently, Winnipeg.
The play is about a notorious incident in 1944 in which a delegation from the International Red Cross
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
visited the Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
and were duped by the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
camp officials into reporting to the world that conditions were good and that they saw no evidence to support reports of mass murder.
Plot summary
According to The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the play has five sections. It opens with a monologue by the Red Cross inspector. Next we see the series of tableaux concocted by the Nazis to dupe the Red Cross, such as a small girl at play teaching her doll to swim. In the third scene the camp commandant graciously receives the Red Cross visitor (in real life there was a commission with several members, in the play this is represented by a single Red Cross delegate.) "The world", the commandant tells the Red Cross representative, "is moving toward unity". Next, we see the commandant bullying a Jewish prisoner called Gershom Gottfried into producing an opera for the Red Cross visitors. In the final scene, Gottfried urges his terrified players to "focus on their words and gestures" on the piece of theatre they are producing and to ignore the daily trains taking prisoners from Theresienstadt to what the audience knows and the prisoners fear are death camps. "If we do it well", he tells a frightened young performer, "we'll see Mummy again, on one of those trains."
Public response
The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
calls Way to Heaven a "a compelling, cunningly constructed play".
nytheatre.com
Nytheatre.com
NYTheatre.com is a theatre information and review website founded in 1997.The Washington Post recommends it to "dedicated fans" of live theater....
called Way to Heaven "extremely intelligent and surprisingly evenhanded" in its treatment of the Nazi perpetrators, duped Red Cross commissioners, and Jewish victims.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
calls it a "spare, elegant work".
Historical references
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and they did perform for the Red Cross commissioners.
The Germans admitted the Red Cross Commission to the camp at Theresienstadt under pressure from the government of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, which demanded that the Red Cross investigate reports that its deported Jewish citizens were being murdered. The Germans stalled as long as they could, before agreeing to permit the visit in order to insure the continued docility of their Danish subjects working in war production factories. Shortly before the visit, 7,503 people were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
to eliminate overcrowding. Theresienstadt was then carefully staged so that the Red Cross visitors saw newly planted flower gardens and freshly painted houses.
The visit to Theresienstadt was only one piece of an accumulating body of information on the reality of The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
reaching the Red Cross by 1944. What historians consider significant is that despite the amount of evidence already in hand, the Red Cross issued a 15-page report on the Theresienstadt camp that failed to raise the question of whether premeditated mass murder was taking place in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The word Himmelweg (German for path or way to Heaven) was the term used alternately with schlauch (German for hose or tube) at the Nazi death camps to denote the path into the gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
s.
Production history
The play premiered at London's Royal Court TheatreRoyal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in 2005.
According to The New York Times, the play has been "a hit in Europe and South America".
The play was produced by Equilicuá Producciones in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 2009.
The play has been produced world-wide, including London, Paris, Madrid, Buenos Aires, New York and, most recently, Winnipeg.