A play about Jan Karski conquers theatres in New York

On 15 September, Theatre for a New Audience in New York (TFAN) premiered the play ‘Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski’. The play tells the story of the legendary courier to the Polish government-in-exile who was the first to inform the world about Nazi German crimes in Auschwitz. The play was met with great enthusiasm from audiences and leading New York magazines.

Jan Karski is the legendary courier to the Polish government-in-exile, who was the first to inform the Western Allies about the situation in German-occupied Poland, including, among other things, the extermination camps where Jews, Poles and other nationalities were murdered en masse by Nazi Germans. Unfortunately, during the occupation, Karski’s report was regarded with disbelief and even denial in the West. Their importance was only recognized years later – in 2012, Jan Karski was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.

Opening of the Interactive Cabinet of Prof. Jan Karski in Ruda Śląska, 2011 (photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 / Małgorzata Miłaszewska-Duda)

American director Derek Goldman has decided to honor the figure of the legendary Polish resistance fighter. Together with Clark Young – Karski’s student at Washington’s Georgetown University – he created a play commemorating the efforts of Karski, who risked his life to alert the world about German crimes at Auschwitz. The main character is played by Oscar-nominated actor David Strathairn.

The performance has a unique character. On an almost empty stage, with a wooden table and a few chairs, Strathairn movingly recreates not only the Polish emissary, but also the other characters associated with his life and mission. The ambition of the creators was to move the “moral conscience” of today’s audience. To a large extent they have succeeded.

On 15 September, the play premiered at Theatre for a New Audience in New York (TFAN). The creation attracted the interest of a wide audience, which filled the auditorium to the brim. Several prominent New York magazines, including trade journals, also published favorable reviews. As editors from The New Yorker put it: “It’s an intense, moving clip of the real Karski – a heroic Polish diplomat who served as a dogged messenger to the outside world during the Holocaust, sharing his eyewitness accounts of the grotesque German occupation.”

The Washington Post adds: “David Strathairn portrays Jan Karski’s struggle to convince the Allies of the Holocaust’s enormity… Truth is the crux of Remember This. Strathairn and his moving narration tell the harrowing story.”

As the director explains, the play is not just about history, but strongly touches on universal principles that are very pertinent today. As he points out: “Karski’s mission  san inspiring and timely description of the importance of individual responsibility and moral behaviour in the face of hatred and injustice.”

‘Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski’ written by Clark Young and Derek Goldman and directed by Goldman will play at the TFAN Theatre trough 9 October.

More information: https://www.jankarski.net/en/rt/about-the-remember-this-project-2.html