Kaufman & Gronich Name Names of Mass Murderers

by Barry David Horwitz

“Here there are blueberries” is written on a post card sent by one of the young women working at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Thanks to an album of photos discovered in 2007, we now can see how the Nazis lived in luxury—right next door to the death towers, the gas chambers, the torture rooms.

We see how, one by one, universities, lawyers, doctors, businessmen, go over to the Dark Side—for jobs, power, and fortune. How corruption becomes a way of life. Even the secretaries knew what was happening to the Jews and other prisoners. The doctors and generals and administrators, they all knew. Now, historians at the Holocaust Museum have spent years uncovering their secrets .

In the projected photos, we can see Dr. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi torturer, who escaped justice. The photos, sent by an American officer to the Holocaust Museum in D.C., identify the creator of the camp and the crematoria. The Nazi officers and their children smile as they relax in deck chairs. They take holidays in a sunny clubhouse on the Sola River while thousands of Jews, Socialists, Gays, and Dissidents are dying in filthy barracks next door. These stunning discoveries gleam with truth in Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s breathtaking stagecraft.

“Blueberries” also makes us think about our painful, present U.S. regime that is doing the very same things: cutting off medical aid, deporting students who speak out, putting opponents in jails. And the professionals are caving in.

The documentary play shows the Nazis living in a dream world—even at Auschwitz. They deliberately betray humanity and lie about it, even to themselves. The photos have careful captions written by the photographer, who was a bank clerk before he joined the Gestapo—for a better-paying job. He took these photos with his Leica and arranged them in an album. No one was supposed to see that album.

Now heroic archivists like Rebecca Erbelding (mesmerizing Delia Cunningham) have studied and explained the photos. In the striking, beautiful staging of their research tables, the archivists have revealed the truth. Now we know how life transpired on both sides of the Auschwitz wall.  On one side is Elon Musk, and on the other the innocents carted off to prison at night.

History is warning us. The dedicated researchers worry about the photos being misunderstood—in a museum devoted to the victims. How could they show photos that highlight the lives of jailers and torturers? But one perceptive young woman sees the value of the shocking photos—Nazis at play within the smell of burning bodies. She argues for the relevance of the long lost photos. Once they are made public, amazing things happen.

Adult children and grandchildren of Nazi officers reacted in unexpected ways. The grandson of the architect of Auschwitz faces the challenge of his heritage. Ranier Hoss (magnificent Marrick Smith) delivers a moving monologue about his liberation from the darkness. Many lives blossom from these photos.

Thanks to historians, curators, and critics, the truth emerges.

Based on years of careful research, “Blueberries” unfolds itself onstage. In precise speeches, we see the devoted workers at the Holocaust Museum debating. The giant projections of the hidden photos reveal the devils in the details—an inspired testament to the power of theater to project TRUTH with all its hardships and doubts.

How easy it was to slip over that tantalizing edge into horror. But patient pursuit of truth has set us free.

“Here There Are Blueberries” by Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich, conceived & directed by Moisés Kaufman, scenic design by Derek McLane, costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by David Lander, sound by Bobby McElver, projections by David Bengali, by Tectonic Theater, co-produced with La Jolla Playhouse, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Info: berkeleyrep.org – to May 11, 2025.

Cast: Scott Barrow, Nemuna Ceesay, Delia Cunningham, Luke Forbes, Noah Keyishian, Barbara Pitts, Jeanne Sakata, Marrick Smith, and Grant James Varjas.

Banner photo: The cast of “Here There Are Blueberries.” Photo by Matthew Murphy