A Message from Arnold Mittelman After a career in not-for-profit and commercial theater spanning more than 40 years I was honored in 2007 to found the National Jewish Theater / Foundation and in 2010 to assume leadership of its Holocaust Theater International...
A Will to Live
An adaptation by Kirk Gostkowski of Helena Weinrauch’s 1945 memoir, the play follows Weinrauch's journey and survival through three concentration camps during the Holocaust. The play deals with the devastating separation from her loved ones and the constant threat of death, as well as the small acts of kindness that contributed to Helena’s survival.
Format: Full-length play
Cast Size: 1F
Running Time: Two hours and 15 minutes (10-minute intermission)
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
The play premiered at the Chain Theatre, New York, in 2023.
The play premiered at the Chain Theatre, New York, in 2023.
Original Source Material: Based on Holocaust survivor Helena Weinrauch’s memoir, which was written immediately after liberation in 1945.
Nationality of Author: U.S.
Original Language: English
Production Rights Holder:
Visit the Chain Theatre website: chaintheatre.org
Experience(s) Chronicled: Concentration and Extermination Camps | Survivors and Subsequent Generations | Women and the Holocaust | Liberation | Germany, Hitler and the Growth of Nazism
HTC Insights
Views, reference and research of interest.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The National Jewish Theater Foundation presented its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfred Uhry. The presentation took place as part of the Lincoln Center Library event on January 27th 2025 in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
Lifetime Achievement Award
On September 30, 2024, French playwright, Mr. Jean Claude Grumberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented by NJTF HTII President, Arnold Mittelman with Dominique Trimbur, PhD-Manager for the History of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, Teaching of the Holocaust of Fondation Pour La Memoir de la Shoah Project.