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On Monday I returned from a two week trip to Europe that included business, politics, and visiting with a lot of old friends. The first leg of that trip was Budapest.  I was there to support my friend Andor Schmuck, President of the Hungarian Social Democratic Party. I attended a number of events during my 4 days there including this press conference leading up to municipal elections on Oct 12.

But that’s not what I want to tell you about. This press conference took place at in a small coffee shop in the center of Freedom Square, a park in the middle of Budapest that contains various political statues and memorials. On the edge of the square the government has erected a memorial to the 600,000 Hungarian Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. This project was completed without consulting the remnant Jewish population (about 40,000). When you understand the purpose of the memorial you will understand why the Jewish community was not consulted and why they have, and continue to, protest loudly.

The purpose of the memorial is to lay the blame entirely on the Germans. The inscription on the memorial disavows any cooperation by the Hungarian government or the Hungarian people. This is a total fabrication and everyone in Hungary knows it. Goebbels himself stated that within weeks of his arrival in Budapest he received thousands of letters from Hungarians giving the names and addresses of their Jewish neighbors. And the Hungarian police volunteered to round up Hungarian Jews. In this letter, Goebbels commented on how cooperative the Hungarians were. It should therefore be expected that Hungarian Jews would protest this memorial.  In the pictures below you will see the nature of the protest.  People place photos of dead family members, personal memorabilia, written stories, and candles. They also place stones— I think all of us recognize the significance of the stones. They have in fact created their own Holocaust memorial in front of the government version. It’s a powerful statement. Frankly, I am quite amazed that the government permits this protest. It has been going on for many months now, with no sign of abatement. In the following pictures you will see Andor explaining the memorial and the protest to me. Then we head off to the press conference.

Many of you are aware that there is a new theater in Carnegie named Off The Wall. It is located on Main Street across from Citizens Bank and opened about a year ago. Formerly this company was located in Washington, PA but moved to Carnegie because of our superior location near Pittsburgh and the western suburbs (shameless plug for Carnegie by local borough councilman). OTW presents unusual and uncommon plays. This isn’t the typical fare that you would see in large productions in the city. But that’s fine with us. We have two live theaters in Carnegie and they each have their niche.

Recent offerings include a play about a woman with dementia and her estrangement from her husband. Another dealt with a strained mother-daughter relationship and breast cancer. Today I’m writing to tell you about a play currently being performed at OTW called The Zero Hour. It stars Erika Cuenca and Daina Michelle Griffith, and was written by Brooklyn playwright Madeleine George. It’s directed by Robyne Parrish. The lead character, Rebecca, writes textbooks for a New York publishing house and has been tasked with writing a chapter on the Holocaust for 7th graders. Because the textbook has to be marketable throughout the U.S., including the Bible Belt, she has to be careful about what she says. As a Jew, and a homosexual, there’s much she would like to say but isn’t allowed. She finds the task stressful, to say the least. And of course, any good story has complications that add to the tension. There’s her roommate/lover who won’t get a job. And, there’s the guilt/stress of hiding her roommate from her mother. As Rebecca’s stress mounts she starts hallucinating— Nazis appear on the train when she comes home from work at night, and they engage her in lengthy conversations. The whole script is excellent. I especially liked the intertwining of the “living a lie” theme as Rebecca describes a “closet” Jew living with false papers in Berlin, while Rebecca herself is hiding her true life from her mother. I also liked how Rebecca struggles with how to make the Holocaust relevant to 7th graders. She can’t describe the enormity of it all— how many Shea Stadiums full of people are we talking about? Her descriptions of the text book modules are priceless.

The acting is very good all around, with Erika giving an especially strong performance as Rebecca. Each of the two leads play 4 or more characters each, which means that they had extensive lines to memorize and have to change costume, accent, and personality repeatedly throughout the play. The numerous costume changes are done on-stage which adds a physicality to the play and an extra challenge to the actors. The set design is excellent, including subway cars, with lighting and sound effects that mimic being in the underground. I give the cast and crew high marks for an emotionally moving and intellectually stimulating performance.

It’s not often that we get a Holocaust themed play in Carnegie. I am probably understating the obvious; we probably have never had a Holocaust themed play in Carnegie! That said, this play is not for everyone. There is overt lesbian sexuality portrayed in some scenes. If you are offended by two women kissing and fondling, you may wish to stay home. The play is running for two more weekends. Members of the Carnegie Shul get a substantial discount on ticket sales; you can call me if you want more info. The OTW website is here.