Holocaust is kept alive in ‘Block 5’

By Guy D’Astolfo

YOUNGSTOWN — The strongest testimony to the power of “Block 5” came from Eva Schloss, a survivor of the Nazis’ Birkenau concentration camp.

Schloss said she was nearly moved to leave the theater because she became overcome with emotion when watching the play.

“Block 5” is based on the true story of an incident at Mauthausen concentration camp during World War II. Schloss’ father and brother both perished at the camp.

The play was written by local playwright/director J.E. Ballantyne Jr., who knows Schloss professionally. Ballantyne invited the London resident to Youngstown in 2005 for the premiere of “Block 5” at the Oakland Center for the Arts. Schloss, incidentally, is the stepsister of Anne Frank, whose famed diary became a lasting memoir of the era.

“Block 5” will be revived for a four-weekend run, beginning Friday at the Victorian Players Theatre. For the fourth weekend, it will move to Main Street Theater in Columbiana.

“It is historically accurate and had the power to put [Schloss] back in Birkenau,” said Ballantyne.

Schloss will not be able to make it to Youngstown for the revival, but sent a letter to put in the program, said Ballantyne.

The current production will include many of the same members of the original cast, including key roles played by John Cox, C. Richard Haldi, Tim McGinley, Glenn Stevens and Alan McCreary.

“These are actors who can do shows anywhere, and they all wanted to come back,” noted Ballantyne. The original production won 10 Marquee Awards, which honor the best in Mahoning Valley theater. Ballantyne will again direct.

Ballantyne learned of the Mauthausen incident while doing research for another play. He was instantly inspired to write a play about it.

“I ran across a four-page account in a book about the Holocaust detailing an incident in Block 5 at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria during World War II,” he said. “The exact same account appeared in a second Holocaust book, with both accounts being supplied by one of the prisoners involved.”

The play revolves around the seven Jewish inhabitants of the cell block, and a captured British officer who is thrown in with them. At first, the Jews believe the Briton to be a spy, but they eventually learn to trust him.

In November, a Nazi commander tells the Jewish prisoners that all seven of them must die by Christmas — and it is up to them to decide who will go first.

“It turns out to be a strong character piece as each character chronicles his life and his feelings on the situation,” said Ballantyne. “They depend heavily on the British officer for advice and support in dealing with this death sentence. As each stares at certain death, they open up about their lives, their fears and conditions at the camp.”

The work is fictional but is based on an actual incident about which little is known, said Ballantyne, because the Nazis destroyed all documentation concerning the camp.

In addition to being powerful drama, “Block 5” also serves to prevent Holocaust outrage from fading. “We are losing the survivors at a rapid rate,” said Ballantyne. “There aren’t a whole lot left.”

In December, an act of vandalism at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland thrust the Holocaust back into the news. Thieves cut down and stole an iron sign that mockingly stated “Arbeit Macht Frei” — “Work Will Set You Free.”

The sign has since been recovered. Five men have been arrested for the crime, which sparked outrage across the globe. The sign had long since become a symbol of Nazi cruelty.

The Mauthausen camp was especially noted for working its prisoners to death. Under armed guard, Jewish men worked a quarry for 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. They would descend 186 steps and then return to the top carrying large stones.

The forced labor continued during the heat of summer and the chill of winter. Worst of all, it was pointless; the Nazis had no use for the stones and operated the quarry solely as a means of torture.

Men who stumbled were beaten or shot. Many prisoners chose suicide by leaping from the top of the quarry.

Reprising his role as Franz Zeireis, commandant of Mauthausen, is Glenn Stevens. Zeireis hated Jews, and is credited with devising the physical and mental torture techniques used at the camp.

John Cox again plays Lt. Josef Cartier, the British officer. He said the show illustrates “man’s inhumanity to man, and the best of humanity, all at once.”

C. Richard Haldi and Alan McCreary are re-creating their roles of Jewish prisoners.

Tim McGinley again plays the Kapo, a prisoner with a violent background who did dirty work for the Nazis in exchange for preferential treatment.

McGinley said the power of his role was demonstrated after a 2005 performance for schoolchildren. As he walked past some of the children who were waiting to board buses, they instinctively backed away from him.

Ballantyne said that Youngstown mayor Jay Williams will issue a proclamation this week, declaring “Holocaust Awareness Weeks” to mark the run of “Block 5.”