The Girl on the Other Side of the Fence

Author(s): Henrik Eger
WWII: Karl Koehler, a shy and deeply religious German farmhand, is drafted to deliver packages in the area around the Bergen-Belsen camp. Aware of the suffering of the inmates, he throws food and clothing over the fence, against the will of his wife, who is in physical and emotional survival mode. At the last encounter at the fence, Karl, about to be sent to Russia, and the girl (Anne Frank), deadly sick with typhus, together with 8 other Jewish inmates, reach out toward each other across the fence for a heart-stopping minyan, coming together in a rare moment of Jewish-Christian togetherness.
Format: Short play
Cast Size:1M/2F plus 8 silent inmates
Running Time: 15 minutes
Character breakdown:

Karl Koehler
Anne Frank
Erna Koehler
8 silent inmates

Snapshot

Original or Prominent Production:
Marymount Manhattan College, NY, June 2009.
Original Source Material: True account of Karl Koehler, German farmhand who got drafted into the postal service in Celle, Germany, to deliver parcels in the area, including the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Nationality of Author: German
Original Language: English, also available in German
Publisher:

Self-published, 2009

Production Rights Holder:

Henrik Eger

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