What did Auschwitz look like to the Nazi’s running it?
Moisés Kaufman, Tony and Emmy-nominated playwright and director, and co-founder of Tectonic Theater Project, joins Jonah to discuss their collaboration on the Broadway play Here There Are Blueberries. The play grew out of a remarkable discovery: a photo album documenting the everyday lives of Auschwitz's Nazi officers, including Christmas celebrations, sunbathing, and, yes, eating blueberries. Kaufman and Holocaust historian Dr. Rebecca Erbelding turned the album's history into a theatrical detective story, raising a chilling question: how could people lead seemingly normal lives while participating in unimaginable evil?
Kaufman unpacks the difference between culpability, complicity, and complacency, and shares how visiting Auschwitz brought the enormity of the Holocaust into painfully personal focus. He reflects on growing up gay, Orthodox Jewish, and Venezuelan, his father's experience as a Holocaust survivor, and how yeshiva shaped his approach to theater. The conversation also explores the lasting impact of *The Laramie Project* and Kaufman's perspective on today's political polarization.
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
Here There Are Blueberries Tickets and Showtimes
02:37
Here There Are Blueberries: The Nazis' Secret Photo Album
10:11
The Holocaust, Moral Complicity, and the Danger of Complacency
22:30
Jewish Identity, Yeshiva, and the Power of Storytelling
30:59
Reinventing Theater: Moment Work and The Laramie Project
40:59
Venezuela, Political Extremism, and What Success Really Means
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Here There Are Blueberries Tickets and Showtimes
CREDITS:
Written and Hosted by Jonah Platt, Executive Producer: Jonah Platt, Supervising Producer: Alex Alcheh, Associate Producer: Rachel Stern, Head of Operations: Josie Rothschild Ivker, Operations Associate: Emma Webb, Research Associate: Samantha Greenwald, Production Associate: Sasha Fiora, Chief of Staff: Abbe Feder, Production Intern: Tova Benarroch, YouTube Consultants: Jason Al-Samarrie & Zac Stein, Post Production by TIMEWEAVER, Creative Director: F. Brian Scofield, ACE, Lead Editor: Noam Klement, Editors: Gray Clevenger, Geoff McGee. Graphic Designer: Noah Bell, Theme Music by Gabriel Mann, Performed by Jonah Platt
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