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...
Sugar, Herbert, Sugar [Cukurs, Herberts, Cukurs]
A highly controversial musical production honoring the memory of Latvian aviator and Nazi war criminal Herberts Cukurs. Known as the “Butcher of Riga” for his atrocities against Jews in the Riga ghetto, Cukurs was part of the Arajs Kommando, a Nazi killing squad that is believed to have murdered 30,000 people in Latvia during WWII. Because Cukurs fled to South America after the war, he never stood trial and his involvement has never been proved, despite eyewitness accounts that corroborate his involvement in the killing of Jews and the burning of synagogues in Riga. But in a country that views Nazi collaborators as heroes because they fought the Russian army and Moscow’s grip on the region during the war, this production is an attempt to portray Heberts Cukurs as a Latvian aviation pioneer and national hero, whitewashing his crimes against humanity.
Format: Musical
Notes:
The production, which has outraged Jews in Latvia, has been condemned by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
Premiered on October 11, 2014 in Liepaja, Latvia, beginning a nationwide tour.
Premiered on October 11, 2014 in Liepaja, Latvia, beginning a nationwide tour.
Nationality of Author: Latvian
Original Language: Latvian
Experience(s) Chronicled: Perpetrators, Bystanders and Collaborators | Nazi War Crimes and Judgement | Reactions to the Holocaust | Deniers and Denial
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.