Witness Theater: Preserving The Past For Future Generations

In the JCC’s Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium, a group of 15 teens and senior citizens walk out in silence before a waiting audience. They’re there to share stories—the Holocaust survival stories of the very seniors now seated on the stage. Black-and-white images of the adults, many as children with their families, are projected onto large screens as the teens, solemnly dressed, act out scenes from the adults’ experiences, while the adults and teens take turns narrating their very personal stories.

Of the dozens of performances and cultural programs hosted by the JCC every year, it’s safe to say none are more moving than Witness Theater.

Witness Theater was conceived and initiated by Irit and Ezra Dagan, and developed and expanded by JDC-Eshel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s elderly division in Israel. The program came to New York City in 2012 through Selfhelp Community Services, established in 1936 to help those fleeing Nazi Germany and which remains the largest provider of comprehensive services to Holocaust survivors in North America.

Selfhelp brought Witness Theater to our JCC in 2014, working with juniors and seniors at Trinity School and the Abraham Joshua Heschel School. This year’s program is a collaboration of Selfhelp Community Services, UJA-Federation of New York, and Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. The program has expanded to other cities as well.

With some survivors now in their 90s and above, the mission of Selfhelp and those that produce Witness Theater— serving as “the last living relative” of these adults—is increasingly important, explains Eve Udesky, Selfhelp’s program director for Witness Theater.

Prior to participating, some of the adults had never shared their stories— not even with their families, explains Udesky. One felt telling her story would make her and her experience “a burden.” Others felt they didn’t have stories to tell. “Their logic was ‘Well, I wasn’t in a camp, so I don’t have a story to tell.’ There is a kind of hierarchy of suffering.”

Others want to tell their stories “to as many people as possible,” says Udesky. “They feel it’s their duty—that they’re doing it for the youth of the next generation.”

The bonds that form during the ninemonth program, from the time the adults and students first meet in the fall, “are really incredible,” she says, and often last beyond the confines of the group. Five years later, she says, students are still calling the adults every Shabbat, and sometimes getting together with the others as a group.

Witness Theater is a commitment— physically, emotionally, and timewise— for both the students and adults. Calls for applications and essays are sent to participating schools at the end of the school year, and recruiting continues throughout the summer. Teens who are chosen to participate meet on Tuesday evenings from September through May. Before meeting with the adults, the students come together and discuss their expectations of the program, and what is expected of them as well.

“The biggest recruiting tool for the teens is past performances,” says Amanda Crater, who serves this year as the JCC’s theater production manager. “They’ve seen it and want to be part of it.”

Participating adults are carefully vetted by Selfhelp. All are either clients of the agency who are recommended by their social workers or others who meet with Selfhelp social workers prior to joining the program. “There are definitely some who are hesitant,” says Crater. “Social workers recommend clients they have determined are ready to go through what is a physically and therapeutically demanding process.”

Students and adults meet together with Jenny Velarde-Ragan, a drama therapist and director. The adults share their stories incrementally, with “small sharing”—lighter topics—in the first couple of months, and eventually discuss their stories of the war and beyond. The final play is created by Velarde-Ragan, based on these stories, and rehearsals begin, with the adults serving as “guest directors.”

“It’s highly emotional for both the adults and teens, which is why the therapy part is so important,” Crater says. “Jenny is incredibly equipped to prepare people for what they may experience and to help along the way.”

Reactions differ from person to person, she adds. ”Some adults are very matter of fact; some are very emotional through the whole thing. Social workers are also part of the team throughout the process.…They check in with participants on a regular basis. We support them as much as we can.”

Emotions run high for the teens as well. At the end of each session, they meet as a group with Velarde-Ragan to process what they’ve heard. “A lot of kids said it was really tough to take part in Witness Theater,” Crater says. In the first meetings with adults, “you could hear a pin drop.”

“Time and time again, we’ve seen such a transformation in the students throughout the process,” says VelardeRagan

“The ways they mature and grow and see the world is unparalleled."

Each week, the group eats dinner together before rehearsals. “The relationships we formed were intimate and familial,” recalls Adina Scheinberg, who was a junior at Heschel when she participated in 2016’s production. For the survivors who do not have close family relationships, “we became the closest family they had—not just the teens, but the other adults as well. Witness Theater provided these adults with a support group of people who shared their histories and received them with love.”

For some of the adults, the only accounts they had of their experiences as children were what their parents had shared. “When they saw us playing out their stories,” Scheinberg continues, “it was the first time they had seen their past with their own eyes.”

Besides the emotional aspect, actors also face the challenge of time. Each adult’s story is told—this year there are five participating. “We get 15 minutes to tell a life story,” says Crater.

Crater shares the story of a woman who participated in the 2017 program, who had been able to escape with her parents and brothers following Kristallnacht; the rest of her family was not so fortunate. And just before Witness Theater, she lost her brother as well. “Over the course of the year, she gradually started coming out of her shell. At the very last performance, she stood on the stage and said, “I lost my family, and here, I’ve found my family.”

“I have heard adults say that Witness Theater has changed their lives— that it’s the best thing they ever participated in,” Velarde-Ragan say. “It’s pretty amazing that survivors of the Holocaust can consider this such a transformational factor.”

Sherri Lerner is the former editorial director at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has written and edited for numerous publications and is currently on the staff of the Wechsler Center.