East of Berlin

by Hannah Moscovitch

Standing outside his father's study in Paraguay, Rudi is smoking cigarettes, trying to work up the courage to go in. It has been seven years since he stood in that same spot; seven years since he left his family and their history behind him.

As a teenager, Rudi discovered that his father was a doctor at Auschwitz. Trying to reconcile his inherited guilt, Rudi lashed out against his family and his friends, and eventually fled to Germany. While there, he follows in his father's footsteps by studying medicine, and falls in love with Sarah, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Questioning redemption, love, guilt, and the sins of the father, East of Berlin is a tour de force that follows Rudi's emotional upheaval as he comes to terms with a frightening past that was never his own.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Historical Fiction, Drama, Read For School, Canada

76 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2009

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t remember this book much from when I read it back in university! This is an interesting play that has three actors in it only, and it’s mostly a monologue/flash back of our main character, Rudi. We learn about his past, his family and it’s a very intense personal drama.

[Jennifer]

Read for my Holocaust literature class. Such an interesting perspective.

[aeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

i hadn’t planned to read this tonight, but it’s very fitting in following sophie’s choice.

[Meaghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story with great potential but I felt the plot and the characters were underdeveloped.

[Spiro Pilarinos · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's prose written into this play. The first image is a cliché: smoking with trembling hands. The last scene is predictable; moreover, the play does not develop Rudi's anguish to present the twist at the end. Also, Rudi, the main character, speaks to the audience (breaking the fourth wall) throughout the play. The small amount of dialogue could have been built on to increase tension. Overall, this play is underdeveloped.

[Joti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rudi's father was a doctor in Auschwitz and conducted experiments on Jewish people and Rudi finds out through his friend Hermann and he can't understand how his father would've done such horrific things and he hits his father and eventually just leaves home. He goes on to become a medical student and might've become a doctor but he quits med shook when he sees how much like his father he could be - and that's when he meets Sarah, daughter of parents who are Holocaust survivors and his guilt is lessened by loving her - they were going to get married and she was pregnant but then the past barges in on the present in the form of Hermann - and he tells Sarah all the things Rudi never told her: his name, who his father really was, and Sarah is angry. Rudi wants to make it right with her and that's why he's now in Paraguay, outside his father's home with a gun, thinking if he kills his father, it'll somehow make things right, or be some kind of justice? But he opens the door and holds the gun up to his own head - so maybe he just can't live with the guilt anymore
- this would be such an intense performance!! I hope they remount it in Toronto soon!!

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A growing up in Paraguay discovers his father was an SS doctor in Auschwitz. His reaction to the news is fueled by the expected range of emotions and behaviours. Written as a drama, this play won many awards when it first came out.

[Anjelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes you just don't know about yourself; and the weight it can carry despite it being outside your control. just felt sad and powerless while reading this beautifully written play by moscovitch.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jean Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really captivating take on what the generations after inherit. From survivors and perpetrators, what is passed on and who survives?

[lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

how could you not love the darling of modern canadian theatre, hannah moscovitch? pretty close to perfect.

[Asia]

An intelligent and fast-paced plot, ambiguous characters and a shocking ending - I'm definitely glad to have picked up this play on a whim. The perspective of a son of a Nazi fugitive is one I had not thought about, yet the text provides an interesting proposition as to how that life could have looked like. By serving twists at every step of the way and showing the narrator's not-so-glorious choices, the read is a quick and investing one.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely powerful and hard hitting play. The way Hannah Moscovitch had Rudi talking to the audience through most of it was very effective, in my opinion, and I'm glad that is the route she went with this. I sucked in my breath multiple times while reading this. Every word on every page was carefully chosen and made this play emotional throughout its entirety. After reading this I really want to check out more of Hannah Moscovitch's works.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find plays, poems, novels, etc. about the children of Nazis really interesting, because it's such a unique psychological position to be in: divided between a child's love for a parent and the deep revulsion at the crimes committed by their parents. Moscovitch's play centers on the son of a doctor who served at Auschwitz, but then escaped to South America and prospered in the German expat community in Paraguay. When the 17-year old Rudi, the narrator and protagonist of the play, finds out about his father's role in the Holocaust, it ruins his image of his father and himself. Rudi ends up struggling to build a new life outside the shadow of what his father did, but the difficulty is always knowing whether he's acting from his own desires or to either spite, repent for, or perversely please his father. Rudi's career trajectory and interpersonal relationships are largely built around this uncertainty.
https://youtu.be/0wNhThLmXEQ

[Eleftheria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play was so eloquently written, Hannah Moscovitch's work is truly amazing. It gave a new kind of look into life after the Holocaust for the children of perpetrators and victims.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the most powerful plays I've ever read through. Every page hits home, and the ending is quite a surprise that you realise you should have seen coming. Can't recommend enough.

If I ever get the chance to see a production of it, I will definitely purchase tickets on the first day they're available.

[Vanessa Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable play. Its unique style/perspective lends to its mystery & intrigue. Bears witness to the affects of intergenerational trauma as a result of the Holocaust. While I agree it is somewhat underdeveloped (a quick read), that which is left unaddressed also speaks to the volume of its poignancy.

[Adriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short play. A Yong man struggles for deal with the fact that his father worked in the Nazi camps.
I don’t think the play truly managed to have the characters interact well. They carry a lot of bagaje and yet they don’t seem to play it out well.

[Jake Stillwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little hokey and over-the-top (with none of the subtlety that made Essay so sharp), but still an interesting play about how our communities shape who we are and colour who we try to be.