Manchester Community Theatre Players (MCTP), in cooperation with Temple Adath Yeshurun, will present the short film documentary Surviving Evil: The Holocaust through the story of Stephan H. Lewy on Monday November 9th as a virtual presentation. Stephen was born in 1925 in Berlin and experienced the anti-Jewish sentiment as Hitler rose to power. Surviving Evil chronicles Stephan’s escape from the Nazis, his time in hiding in France, his escape to the United States after the occupation of France, and his eventually becoming an American Citizen as fighting in the 3rd Army under Patton, liberating the largest Concentration Camp, Buchenwald.
Surviving Evil is written by Tom Anastasi and Alan D. Kaplan and directed by Alan D. Kaplan. It was originally written as a stage play that, through a grant from the Sidor foundation, toured mostly schools, colleges, and organizations in NH and MA, but also had a performance in New York City in 2011. It premiered to a sell-out audience at the Palace Theater in 2003 and has been seen by over 10,000 people with over 20 different productions.
Surviving Evil has been seen by many Jewish organizations, but it is also intended for non-Jewish audiences who may be learning about the Holocaust for the first time. A theme of the film is that Holocausts do not happen by accident, but because societies allow them to happen over a long period of time.
Last fall, Anastasi and Kaplan decided to make Surviving Evil into a film to preserve Stephan’s story for history. Stephan, now 95 years-old, and TAY member Steve Short narrate the film that features photos from Stephan’s family album as well as stock footage brought to life through voiceovers. “It’s a moving and powerful story. And to have Stephen in his own words tell what it was like to rescue the prisoners at Buchenwald truly gripping.” said Anastasi. Short adds “Having known Stephen for 35+ years, it was humbling to have voiced his words in this project”.
November 9th was chosen to broadcast the film (which recently became a finalist in the Lonely Seal film festival that will run Mid October) as part of the Kristallnacht observance, which many believe was the start of the Holocaust. Parents should know there are brief disturbing images of the Buchenwald camp that were taken on the day of its liberation.
Stephan, a NH resident and TAY member for decades, now lives near Buffalo with his family. The film begins at 7:30 PM and runs for 40 minutes and includes a Q&A afterward. The stream of the movie can be seen at MCTP’s homepage www.mctp.info as well as MCTP’s Facebook page. There is no charge, but donations are gratefully accepted. For questions, email info@manchestercommunitytheatre.com.