"And Then They Came For Me: Remembering The World of Anne Frank" was the play I attended last night at the local high school. The play interspersed onstage acted scenes with onscreen taped interviews with two holocaust survivors, Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg. The lives of these two people actually intersected with the life of Ann Frank. Ed was mentioned in Ann's diary as an early love interest. Unfortunately, they only knew each other a few weeks before Ann's family went into hiding. Ann Frank's father, Otto, married Eva's mother after the war. Eva and Ed's recounting of their lives during the years preceding and during World War II was powerful and haunting. The actors portrayed significant events mentioned in the taped interviews. The audience was able to visualize the fear and terror and witness through the survivors' eyes the horror of those dark years. This was a powerful dramatization. The memories of the holocaust events were the memories of teenagers trapped in a war and dealing with hatred they could not understand. The teenage actors did an outstanding job. I'm sure it could not have been easy to make themselves the characters they portrayed. In the play program Mrs. Schloss is quoted, "I have watched very many performances and each time have been moved by the deeply felt interpretation of the young actors and their portrayal of the humiliation, degradation and pain our families had to endure."As the audience left the theater, a student reminded us to "always remember".
Unfortunately man's inhumanity to man continues to occur around the world. Chouchou Namegabe from the Democratic Republic of Congo was a guest on Cspan this morning. Her accounts of women being raped and tortured in her country were astounding.
What will it take to stop the madness!
