Abstract
Revue and vaudeville theatre became a mass cultural phenomenon at the beginning of the twentieth century, entailing a highly ambivalent critical discourse. The following contribution focuses on the revue evenings in the Dutch transit camp Westerbork, which were organised by the popular German-Jewish revue artists Willy Rosen and Max Ehrlich with the support of the camp administration. The analysis focuses on two significant aspects of revues: first, the dramaturgy of montage, rhythm, and fragmentation characteristic of revues, reflecting the time experience of industrialisation and the logic of the capitalist market economy; second, attention is paid to the organisation of time in revues. Revues negotiate topical socio-political issues and cultural phenomena in satirical sketches and songs. A central element is the re-mediation of popular films, operettas, and songs, which are continuously re-situated and thus designate continuities and disruptions. The analysis of the last revue in Westerbork “Ludmilla, oder Leichen am laufenden Band” (“Ludmilla, or Corpses on the Conveyor Belt”) shows how the artists staged a seemingly superficial critical negotiation of the contemporary situation by metatheatrical commentary. Nevertheless, at the same time, this dramaturgical structure designated the “reality of concentration camps” in incomparably clear-sighted terms.
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Notes
- 1.
Typoscript “Ludmilla”. Archive Jetty Cantor, inv. no. 200000353.001. Allard Pierson, University of Amsterdam, Theatercollectie (all translations of typoscript VZ).
- 2.
Ego-documents refer to autobiographical writings like diaries, letters, memoires, witness accounts, etc. The Dutch historian Jacques Presser introduced the term in his seminal study Ondergang. De vervolging en verdelging van het Nederlandse jodendom 1940-1945 (1985, 523).
- 3.
Peter Jelavich, for instance, still notes in 1993 in the “Epilogue” to his book on Berlin Cabaret: “Westerbork holds a troubled place in the history of cabaret because six revues were staged there between July 1943 and June 1944” (Jelavich 1993, 263).
- 4.
The reconstruction of a performance must therefore rely on the one hand on programmes and reviews, and on the other hand on autobiographies and memoirs, which were often written long after the performance and which are informed by the historical discourse of the time of writing.
- 5.
The text of the revue was found in a folder that Jacob Cantor, the son of Jetty Cantor, a renowned Dutch-Jewish artist who was also involved in the revues in Westerbork, donated to the Netherlands Theatre Institute in 1999. It contained an almost complete director’s book of the last revue (see Zaich 2003, 57-58). In 2018, Mieke Tillema who was working on a biography on Ida Simons, a well-known concert pianist and writer in the Netherlands, who survived Westerbork and Theresienstadt, recognized that she was holding the score of the revue in her hands when she received a map with a dedication from Ziegler for Ida Simons. This discovery led to the re-enactment of the revue in 2019 in Amsterdam and Westerbork (by Punto Arte). I would like to thank the daughter-in-law of Ida Simons, Ms. Marita Simons-Deen, for generously making the score available to me.
- 6.
The Dutch journalist Philip Mechanicus was deported to Westerbork in 1942. He understood himself as chronicler of Westerbork. He noted his observations and experiences meticulously in his diary. In March 1944, he was put ‘on transport’ to Bergen-Belsen. He was shot in Auschwitz on 15 October 1944. The above comment can be found in his diary entry on 21 July 1943 (All transl. of the diary, VZ).
- 7.
Bericht ueber die ‘Gruppe Buehne’ im Lager Westerbork, by Erich Ziegler, Den Haag, 29 July 1946, Collection Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork, inv. no. 3382. “Da wir fuehlten, dass eine Ablenkung fuer die Lagerinsassen noetwendig waere, bearbeiteten wir einen gemeinsamen Plan um einerseits unseren Mitgefangenen einige Abende zu bieten, die sie aufheitern sollten und andererseits um evtl. wieder in unserem Beruf taetig sein zu koennen”.
- 8.
German original: “2 Verse aufgelöst in Schritte, Gesang, Handlung—immer Bewegung im Bild”.
- 9.
The Rika Hopper Theatre changed or had to change its name several times till 1942. In 1939, it was renamed to Beatrix Theater, subsequently it was known as Theater van de lach.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
German original: “Immer langsam, immer mit Gemütlichkeit,/es ist noch nicht so weit,/wir haben noch lange Zeit”. (All transl. of manuscript by VZ); Kühn translates the line as follows: “Slowly, slowly, always goodnaturedly, we’re not in a hurry and we’ve plenty of time” (Kühn 1999, 53).
- 13.
German original: “Wie geht’s Ihnen, Herr Fröhlich?/Wie geht’s Ihnen, Herr Schön?/Na, ich danke, so allmählich./Na, auch mir könnt’s besser gehn!/Jüngst war ich beim Professor,/Zu dick bin ich, sagt er./Drum soll vor dem Schlafengehen/Ich gar nichts essen mehr” (Zaich 2001, 108).
- 14.
German original: “Die Lawa, die Lawa/Die Lawa ist mein Schwarm./Da kann man sich schon die Zeit vertreiben,/Drum sage ich es bitte gleich/Will keinen anderen Dienstbereich/Ich will viel lieber in der Lawa bleiben”. Zaich mentions that the revue just premiered at the beginning of June 1944, but was banned subsequently, because “Gemmeker considered it inappropriate in view of the military situation after the Normandy landings” (Zaich 2003, 58; transl. VZ).
- 15.
German original: “Jetty Cantor ist verrückt geworden—sie ist unter die Lawa-Verkäuferinnen gegangen”.
- 16.
Katja Zaich interprets Lawa with volcanic lava, referring to the proverbial dance on the volcano (Zaich 2001, 198). However, Lawa doesn’t refer to volcanic lava but to the abbreviation of the so-called Lagerwarenhaus (camp warehouse).
- 17.
The operetta premiered in Vienna in 1915 and was immensely popular all over Europe, partly due to several film adaptations.
- 18.
The Lagerwarenhaus has been established in February 1943 and is sarcastically commented on in letters and diaries (see Presser 1985, 309–310).
- 19.
German original: “Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Lawa eingestellt!/Ja! Das ist meine Welt—und sonst gar nichts”.
- 20.
Marlene Dietrich emigrated to the USA in 1930, she not only neglected Hitler’s invitation to come back to Germany but supported the US army by performing for Allied troops. Thus, it was rather daring to use the song as a blueprint for a persiflage.
- 21.
The title is difficult to translate, Ungarland can be translated as Country of Hungary or Country of Hungarians; Heimatland can be translated as Homeland.
- 22.
O.D. is the abbreviation for the so-called Ordnungsdienst, a Jewish ‘police force’, responsible for maintaining order in the transit camp.
- 23.
According to the manuscript, the Father was played by Otto Aurich, Ludmilla by Lisl Frank, Lopez Cardozo by Max Ehrlich, Achsterrippe by Franz Engel, the Chorus by Jetty Cantor, the Ballet by Esther Philipse and the Page by Mara Rosen. So the cast consisted mainly of German-speaking artists, but also two Dutch-speaking artists (Jetty Cantor and Esther Philipse). Erich Ziegler and Willy Rosen are credited as being responsible for the music.
- 24.
German Original: “Der Schmierentheaterdirektor Jeremias Piepenbrink aus Flohwinkel gibt bekannt, dass er heute in unserem Ort ein Gastspiel gibt”.
- 25.
German original: “Ich stehe immer auf der Scene,/damit recht viel los ist/und gehe zehnmal über die Bühne,/damit der Chor recht gross ist!”.
- 26.
German original: “Es ist so schön, am Abend bummeln zu gehn …”.
- 27.
German original: “Originalabgang aus d. Operettenfinale”.
- 28.
German original: “Wo bin ich? Ich bin ganz benommen./Wieso bin ich so runtergekommen?”
- 29.
German original: “Weisst Du, wieviel Sternlein stehn?” These words are followed by the handwritten addition “Dogs are happy creatures”, replacing a deletion in the manuscript with the Shakespearean quotation “A kingdom for a horse”. Whether the deletion is due to censorship cannot be ascertained retrospectively.
- 30.
German original: “Jetzt trinken wir noch ein Glaserl Wein”.
- 31.
German original: “Jetzt trink’ ich auch ein Glaserl Gift/Hollodrioh”.
- 32.
German original: “Ich wasch’ mir zum Abschied noch einmal die Hände”.
- 33.
German original: “Reich mir zum Abschied noch einmal die Hände”.
- 34.
German original: “Ich hab es heut Nacht den Sternen erzählt/Ich liebe Dich”.
- 35.
German original: “Ihr schwaermt ja doch alle fuer Kitsch so sehr,/Fuer Buecher und Filme von ‘Courtsmaloer’./Ihr seht gerne Gangster und Polizei,/Und etwas Wildwestromantik dabei./Der Heine steht zwar auf dem Buecherbrett,/Doch Euren Wallace, den lest Ihr im Bett./Mit moeglichst viel Leichen und Spannung und so,/Siegt endlich das Gute, ach, dann seid Ihr froh./Euer Geschmack ist meistens ganz barbarisch,/Doch bleibt nur so,—wozu denn literarisch”.
- 36.
“Transportmaterial” was the term for Jewish people, who were considered to be able to be put ‘on transport’ (see Mechanicus 1964, 75, 81, 82, 176, 292).
- 37.
None of the ensemble members of the last revue except Erich Ziegler and Jetty Cantor survived (see Zaich 2001, 204).
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Archival Material
Typoscript “Ludmilla”. Archive Jetty Cantor, inv. no. 200000353.001. Allard Pierson, University of Amsterdam, Theatercollectie.
Bericht ueber die ‘Gruppe Buehne’ im Lager Westerbork, by Erich Ziegler, Den Haag, 29 July 1946. Collection Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork, inv. no. 3382.
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Zangl, V. (2024). Berlin—Amsterdam—Westerbork: Revue and the Aesthetics of War. In: Heinrich, A., Simke, AC. (eds) Dramaturgies of War. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39318-1_12
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