The Little Lion, Act Two

(Winter. 5:00 a.m.

PROJECTION: Darkness.

SOUND: Tolling.

ENSEMBLE as in top of Act 1, but they face upstage. Low backlight reveals them in silhouette. They are still.

A loud speaker plays Wagner. A figure collapses. Then another. GERMANS shout in German from time to time. Perhaps they bully those collapsed to their feet.)

GERMANS 1!

2!

3!

. . .

25!

26!

27!

. . .

108!

109!

110!

. . .

631!

632!

633!

(CAPTAIN LEITUKIS comes through the throng.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Where is Laibale Gillman!? . . . You!

(JOEL turns around.)

Where is he?

JOEL He is not well.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Fetch him.

JOEL He will not come, Valter. Find somebody else to pick on.

(CAPTAIN LEITUKIS knocks JOEL to the ground.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You will call me Captain Leitukis. Get up!

(With difficulty, JOEL gets up.)

Take me to him.

(CAPTAIN LEITUKIS and JOEL exit.)

(The Gillman home in the ghetto. LAIBALE lies on the floor.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS enters.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Get up.

LAIBALE No.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You must be counted. Get up and go outside.

(Beat)

Can you hear me Laibale Gillman?

(LAIBALE covers his ears.)

LAIBALE Not anymore.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You refuse to be counted?

LAIBALE Yes.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS The garage is full of motorcycles that need repair. Get out there right now, be counted, and get to work!

LAIBALE No.

(CAPTAIN LEITUKIS holds a pistol to LAIBALE’s temple.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You think I won’t do it?

LAIBALE I want you to do it.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS I will give you to three.

LAIBALE Oh, for the love of God. Just shoot me.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS One.

LAIBALE Two. Three. Bang.

(Beat)

What’s the matter, Valter?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You will call me Captain Leitukis .

LAIBALE You’ve wanted to kill me ever since I won that motorcycle race. Well, now’s your chance. Do it.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Get outside and be counted!

LAIBALE Why should I do anything for you when my mother is at the Ninth Fort?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Because I said so !

LAIBALE I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of anything. You locked up my mother for trying to feed her family, Valter. My mother. Remember her? She made dresses for your mother. She stood up to your father. She treated you kindly even when you didn’t deserve it.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS This has nothing to do with me. You will go outside to be counted, and then you will go to work.

LAIBALE No. I won’t. And you’re not going to kill me, either, because I’m the only one around here who knows the difference between a two-stroke and a four-stroke engine.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Then I will kill one hundred Jews right now. And it will be on your head. What do you think of that?

LAIBALE I think it will be on your head, Valter . Will that make you feel better? Knowing you’ve turned into a brute like your father? CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Leave him out of this!

LAIBALE How did it feel when you saw Menachim die? Did you shoot him yourself, or did you just watch? Did you think of Esther, how much she loved him? Or is that just a word to you, like stick or bone?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Stop talking!

LAIBALE Why don’t you just kill your father and get it over with? Leave me and my family alone.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS I said, stop talking!

LAIBALE Gladly.

(LAIBALE curls into fetal position, withdraws.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You have no idea, the pressure I am under! No idea!

(He kicks something.)

It’s not enough anymore to pledge allegiance, you have to prove it! Every day! They demand absolute obedience, this crowd. I have over one thousand Jews to count! It if takes one hour, if it takes five hours, they don’t care. In the cold, the rain, the snow. If the count comes out wrong, I have to do it again, over and over. I want to die, standing out there, and for what? I ask you, for what? So some idiots in Berlin can sit around and act like God, that’s for what. They are worse than my father, I swear to Christ. I wish they would all get in a boxcar and send themselves over a cliff.

(Beat)

I never said any of that, by the way.They would kill me, you know. You think you have it bad. Try being me for just one day, see how you like that . Marching the work brigade to the airport and back again—I have to account for every Jew who gets himself shot. We ask them to do one simple thing: get in the trench and throw the gravel back onto the landing strip. Simple. You’d think we were asking them to build the pyramids. It doesn’t take a genius. And they look at you, with their eyes so full of . . .

It’s no picnic, let me tell you.

(After another beat, VALTER lets down, looks around the room. He pokes a FALLEN ACTOR with a boot, touches this, inspects that, more curious than anything else.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS So. What do you hear from Rebekkah? Does she ask about me?

(LAIBALE’s laugh, high and fey at first, builds to hysteria.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS What is so funny? That is enough. Stop it, now. Enough !

(LAIBALE covers his head with his arms. Eventually, he calms.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Do you remember Hans Bergoff?Fat kid. Squinty eyes. Always eating candy. He was younger than us.

LAIBALE Barely. Why?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS One time he had this large lollipop. You know the kind? Round. Flat. Like a dish. Very big. As big as his head, almost. There were swirls in it, red and yellow.

LAIBALE What about it?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS I wanted it. Not all of it. Just a taste. I said to him, “Hans, I would like a taste of that lollipop.” And he said no. So I asked again. “I just want one lick and that is all.” Still, he says no. And he looked me in the eye and very deliberately licked that lollipop with the flat of his big, fat tongue.

LAIBALE What did you do?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Nothing. I just stood there, staring at him. And then suddenly my father was there, and he snatched the lollipop, hit Hans over the eye with it, and stuffed it back in his hand. And before Hans can cry out, my father is dragging me home by the ear. And when we get home, my father picks up a belt hanging on the back of the door and beats me with it.

LAIBALE Why?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS I don’t know.

(Beat)

Hans had to have stitches over his eye.

LAIBALE Your father is damaged.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS This is true.

LAIBALE The Germans took his garage?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Yes.

LAIBALE I’m glad. CAPTAIN LEITUKIS So am I.

(Looks out window)

Will Kovno ever be the same, do you think?

LAIBALE No. And we will remember.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You will remember. Remember what?

LAIBALE You. Me. My mother. The thousands dropping dead every day. The thousands more destined to die.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS What do you know about the destiny of thousands?

LAIBALE

(Beat)

Lollipops.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS What?

LAIBALE Lollipops. Just as you said.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS I don’t follow.

LAIBALE Say there are twelve lollipops on the table. A Nazi, a Jew, and a worker from Kovno all want the lollipops. The Nazi takes ten, leaving one each for the worker and the Jew. Then the Nazi turns to the worker and says, “You see that Jew? He wants your lollipop.” That is what we will remember.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS You want a lollipop?

LAIBALE You’re not very bright, are you?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS That is not my job.

LAIBALE What is your job, Valter?

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS To get your ass outside to be counted, then in the garage to fix our damn motorcycles.

LAIBALE Then I guess you will fail. Because I am not doing anything for you, ever again.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Enough of this, Laibale. The motorcycles are broken down. I am forced to ride a bicycle. Really, I look ridiculous. Go outside and be counted.

LAIBALE No. The entire German Army can ride bicycles for the rest of the war, for all I care.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Go outside, then get to work!

LAIBALE No ! You took my mother!

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Fine! Sergeant! Come here.

(SERGEANT enters.)

SERGEANT Jawohl !

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Is there a motorcycle in the pool that actually runs?

SERGEANT One, Herr Captain.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Put this man on it and take him to the Ninth Fort.

SERGEANT Jawohl . Come here, you.

LAIBALE I’m not going anywhere.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Take him to the Ninth Fort.

JOEL No!

SERGEANT Jawohl !

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Then have him find his idiot mother and bring them both back here so I can finish this goddamn count !

(Exit.

Lights out.

SOUND: Thunder, lightning, rain.

PROJECTION: Loudspeaker.)

LOUDSPEAKER On Tuesday, October 28, 1941, at 6:00 a.m., all inmates of the ghetto, including children and the sick, are to assemble in the square at Demokratu Street, and line up in accordance with police instructions. Do not lock your apartments, cupboards, desks, or wardrobes.

Anyone found in the apartments after 6:00 a.m. will be shot on sight.

(A celebration.

PROJECTION: Archival sketch of musicians.)

GHETTO WORKER Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!

(Great roar, followed by Lithuanian drinking song, possibly “Zingt un Tantst in Ridelekh”—“Sing and Dance in Circles,” slightly sped up. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, writes of the song: “It describes daily life in the ghetto, in an ironic way: the immeasurable overcrowding and hunger overcomes the morals of the people, leaving them no other choice but to dance and celebrate in order to survive and forget their miseries.” DR. ELKES enters.)

DR. ELKES Enough! Do you want them to kill you for disturbing their sleep?

MAN #1 What does it matter if they kill us now or in the morning, Dr. Elkes? At least this way, we do not leave our food and drink supply to them.

DR. ELKES Go home to your families!

MAN #2 And do what? Snivel and pray to a God that has forsaken us?

ZOSIA Please, Doctor. I have no family. Please tell them I am your wife. It is my only chance to save myself. Without a husband, what chance do I have? None!

DR. ELKES Go over there, Zosia. Lola! She should not drink anymore. See to her, will you?

(LOLA guides ZOSIA away.)

Listen to me! You are overreacting. This is just a reorganization.

MAN #1 Reorganization! I like that. So much better than selection. You are starting to sound like them with their euphemisms.

ZOSIA Some will be selected to live, others will be selected to die. Isn’t that the way it will go, Doctor?

MAN #2 We must resist!

DR. ELKES No! They will shoot anyone who resists. Or hides. Or runs away. You must show them you are able to work. It is the only way to save yourself.

MAN #1 I would rather die.

DR. ELKES You would rather live . Listen to me. Listen to me! You want to sing? Sing about life! Sing about God. Sing about our strength and dignity as a people.

MAN #3 I would rather sing about beer.

(He shouts the Lithuanian equivalent of “ Cheers! ” (“ Į sveikatą ! ”) Others salute in kind. DR. ELKES loses control of the room.

RABBI SHAPIRO stands and sings kaddish for the dead. Lights change to feature RABBI. After a bit, all settle down, eventually exit.)

RABBI SHAPIRO (Sings the Mourner’s Kaddish) Yit’-ga-dal v’yit-ka-dash sh’mei ra-ba, b’al-ma di-v’ra chi-ru-tei, v’yam-lich mal-chu-tei b’chai-yei-chon uv’yo-mei-chon uv’chai-yei d’chol-beit Yis-ra-eil, ba-a-ga-la u-viz-man ka-riv, v’im’ru: A-mein.

(All but RABBI SHAPIRO leave the stage.)

(The selection. Demokratu Square.

Light on RABBI SHAPIRO. He writes.

PROJECTION: Archival manuscript.)

RABBI SHAPIRO There was nothing I could do. A man can only stare into the face of evil for so long, can only listen to the cries and pleas of the bereaved before shutting down. Thank God for Dr. Elkes. Without him, more may have resorted to self-annihilation.

The square was surrounded by machine gun emplacements. As thirty thousand ghetto inmates assembled into columns, armed Lithuanian partisans, some of them former neighbors, looted their houses and killed anyone they found hiding there.

The thirty thousand stood in the square, waiting for something to happen. Hours went by.

(SOUND: Tolling effect.)

At 9:00 a.m., a Gestapo entourage arrived, and with the wave of a baton, Master Sergeant Rauca sent a column of Jews to the left and another to the right. The selection had begun.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA (eating the last of a sandwich) It smells most unpleasantly of Jews today. <

(He throws crust on the ground. Several Jews run after it, but he grinds the crust into the dust with his boot.)

You, there. To the left. The rest of you, to the right.

(A CAPTAIN whispers in his ear.)

All of you to the right then.

(Beat)

Don’t make me repeat myself! Schnell !

RABBI SHAPIRO To the left of Rauca, it came to pass, was the “good” line. In cases where members of a family were separated, Dr. Elkes tried to intervene, and at times even succeeded in transferring whole families to the left. He saved hundreds, but almost ten thousand others were marched to the Ninth Fort and murdered.

(MOSHE, SHEINA with Sara, ISRAEL, ANOTHER SHEINA step up.)

DR. ELKES Moshe! Where is your mother and Laibale?

MOSHE I wish I knew! The last I heard, Laibale was taken to the Ninth Fort. Mama was taken there yesterday for smuggling through the fence.

DR. ELKES God help us all.

ANOTHER SHEINA Will they put us in the bad line because of Nese, Doctor?

SHEINA Can you talk to them?

DR. ELKES They will not separate you. The little one. She is sick?

SHEINA I gave her something so she would sleep. The Germans are very cruel to crying babies.

DR. ELKES Try to wake her. They must see she is healthy.

ISRAEL Laibale!

(LAIBALE and NESE are delivered at gunpoint. The family clings to them.)

MOSHE Mama, thank God!

SHEINA We thought we lost you both.

ISRAEL What the hell happened?

NESE Laibale came and got me. He saved my life.

(Coughs)

DR. ELKES Step up. It is time. Moshe, as the eldest, you should speak for the family.

(A nervous MOSHE and the family are before RAUCA.)

MOSHE Good morning, Herr Rauca.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA Who are you to address me by my name? Who is this man? Who told him to talk?

DR. ELKES His name is Moshe Gillman, Herr Rauca. I told him he should speak for the family.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA Speak? You mean like a dog?

DR. ELKES No, Herr Rauca, like a man.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA I think you should bark for me, family man.

DR. ELKES Herr Rauca, this family has many talents, which will support the Reich. The mother is an excellent seamstress, and the younger brother—

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA That is enough out of you, Dr. Elkes. You have been getting on my nerves for some time now. Go over there, please. I wish to hear this man bark like dog.

DR. ELKES This is unnecessary, Herr Rauca.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA I don’t wish to hurt you, Dr. Elkes. I rather like you. But if this man doesn’t bark for me in two seconds I will remove your nose with this baton. Am I clear?

(LAIBALE barks. HERR RAUCA is taken aback, but before he can object, LAIBALE goes into full dog boogie. DR. ELKES slowly ushers MOSHE out of view. LAIBALE caps off his performance by nuzzling HERR RAUCA, who pets him.)

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA Very good! You see? What is so wrong about that? A little laughter to lift the spirits. What is your name, dog?

LAIBALE Laibale Gillman.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA Laibale Gillman. You are very ugly. Has anyone ever told you that?

LAIBALE Yes, Herr Rauca. Arf!

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA Can you do anything other than bark like an ugly dog?

LAIBALE I am an excellent motorcycle mechanic, sir.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA Not just any motorcycle mechanic, but an excellent motorcycle mechanic!

LAIBALE Yes, sir. The Reich has excellent motorcycles, but they can always use excellent mechanics.

MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA And so it can, ugly dog. All right. Get in the left line. Next! You there? What are you doing?

(MASTER SERGEANT RAUCA exits. LAIBALE falls to his knees and vomits. NESE assists him, wipes the corner of his mouth with her dress.)

NESE What would we do without our little lion? Shh, shh. Don’t cry. We’ve made it through another day.

(They cling to each other.)

RABBI SHAPIRO And they were through. After twelve hours of not knowing, they were spared with a wave of a baton. Others faced a different fate.

(Intones quietly as ZOSIA comes forward)

Yit-ga-dal v’yit-ka-dash sh’mei ra-ba, b’al-ma di-v’ra chi-ru-tei, v’yam-lich mal-chu-tei b’chai-yei-chon uv’yo-mei-chon uv’chai-yei d’chol-beit Yis-ra-eil, ba-a-ga-la u-viz-man ka-riv, v’im’ru:

(ZOSIA smiles and smooths her hair, mimes flirtation as RABBI SHAPIRO continues to speak. We sense it is not going well. She tries a different tactic. Eventually, she accepts her fate and is still.)

RABBI SHAPIRO In one day, the Big Action at Demokratu Square condemned almost ten thousand men, women, and children to death, first of all, for being Jewish, and then for being old, sick, or superfluous. Their Lithuanian neighbors, drunk and armed to the teeth, marched them in columns to the Ninth Fort, where they were forced to line the edges of a huge pit. Wave after wave, layer upon layer, they were shot and pushed, shot and pushed, over and over, until the bodies filled the pits. It took one day to shoot them, but a few days for all of them to die. Dr. Elkes, under siege by grieving families, all of whom were missing a father, a son, a nephew, a grandmother, did what he could to save a few more, but nearly lost his own life for his trouble.

Thus recorded this last day of October. 1941.

(Sings)

A-mein.

(He ceremoniously closes the book on the diary entry.)

(RABBI SHAPIRO’s makeshift classroom.

PROJECTION: Archival picture of students.)

GEORGE You can make your own camera, but you must not get caught taking a picture. I take pictures through the buttonhole in my coat, you see? I made my camera myself. It is easy, and I can get you x-ray film from the hospital. I fix the x-ray machines, you see, and—

RABBI SHAPIRO I must interject. Excuse me. I will be brief. Children, we all know the unlawful procurement of goods is called theft, and this is a sin in the eyes of God.

GEORGE I don’t steal it, Rabbi, I barter for it.

RABBI SHAPIRO Ah. Acceptable. Go on, George.

GEORGE Anyway. You will need a box with a lid . . .

(Holds up each object in turn)

. . . a thin piece of metal, a needle that will pierce the metal, a knife, sandpaper, and black tape of some kind. Electrical tape is good. I can help you find these things.

And of course . . . film.

Okay! Paint the inside of the box and lid black like I did here. Put the lid on and tape all around so light can’t get in. Light will ruin your film and your photograph.

Poke a tiny hole in the metal shim with a needle. Make a pinhole opening in the box, and tape the metal piece behind the pinhole opening with black tape.

To make a shutter, which is just a flap that covers the pinhole from the outside, fold pieces of black tape together until you have a flap, then tape the flap, like so.

In darkness, place a piece of film to the inside of the box across from the hole. Put the lid on, and make sure the shutter is closed.

The camera works best when it is bright, so in here, I’ll have to hold the shutter open for thirty seconds or more. Who wants to have their picture taken?

(GEORGE frames the moment, and all but ESTHER freeze.

PROJECTION: Archival picture of students.

ESTHER wears mittens. She is a stranger, reduced version of her old self but clearly cares about children. She sketches.)

ESTHER Gesture drawings are studies of a form in motion. A gesture drawing is messy and loose. The point is to capture the essence of the form—the most important part is the movement and shape.

George took a photograph last week. It is a good one to practice with. Lots of interesting action going on here.

(She shows it.

PROJECTION: Begin video of ESTHER sketching. It is video of an artist sketching the photo above. The artist wears the same mittens so it looks like ESTHER is doing the drawing.)

Find the dynamic movement lines before defining your shapes. The easiest way is to look at the curvature of the spine. Hatch out a line similar to the spinal curve and start there.

Look at the position of the shoulders and how the arms extend. They also form dynamic action lines. Now, note the position of the hips and how the legs extend from the pelvis. Again, more dynamic line work. At this stage you should be creating a stick man skeleton.

Quick, quick, quick stick man skeleton.

See? This is the foundation of your gesture drawing. Now it is time to block in the head and neck, followed by the upper torso and pelvis. Do not make the upper body one piece, otherwise you will make your form look more like a barrel than a person. And we must always remember, children, we must always remember that these are people.

If you have time and remain safe from prying eyes, fill in some details: clothing, if they still have some; hair, if it hasn’t fallen out due to malnutrition; fingers and toes, unless lost to frostbite, and facial features—

Remember to keep your lines light and loose. Clear your mind; focus on form and movement.

Don’t think about the subject matter. Otherwise you could go crazy thinking who might be next. Because you don’t know who could be next. You mustn’t ask the question: Who will be next?

(Now the sketch is completed and the archival photo is revealed.)

(Gillman family at home. MOSHE is agitated.

PROJECTION: Archival picture of “Sara.”)

MOSHE We have to get her out of here.

NESE The hospital. We can pretend she is sick. She can be among the orphans.

MOSHE God, no. They burned the last hospital to the ground. You want to risk Sara to such a fate?

ANOTHER SHEINA We must all take chances, Moshe.

MOSHE With due respect, Another Sheina, but we are not talking about a mink coat.

(ANOTHER SHEINA gets up abruptly, distances herself from MOSHE.)

ISRAEL Perhaps she is safest here with us.

MOSHE None of us are safe.

ISRAEL They promised no more selections . . .

MOSHE Don’t talk to me of their promises. She will leave this ghetto if I have to take her myself.

ISRAEL They will shoot you both.

(SHEINA enters.)

SHEINA What are we talking about?

ANOTHER SHEINA Uh-oh.

MOSHE Sheina . . . sit down. Please.

SHEINA What is happening?

MOSHE

(Beat)

Love of my life, mother of our perfect child.

SHEINA You’re scaring me.

ANOTHER SHEINA He wants to send Sara out of the ghetto.

(NESE smacks her hand.)

Ouch!

SHEINA You want to send Sara away!?

MOSHE Please. Hear me out.

SHEINA Moshe, how could you? She is our daughter.

MOSHE There has been another directive. Babies are now forbidden in the ghetto.

SHEINA Forbidden? How do you forbid babies? They are insane, these people! Besides, Sara is no longer a baby.

MOSHE By whose definition? Already they are doing this in Vilna. Babies taken away. Pregnant women, forced to have abortions, or shot.

(SHEINA buries her face.)

We have to get her out of here.

NESE Sheina, the Brownsteins were able to get their daughter out. A Catholic couple has her.

SHEINA Not you, too, Nese. How can you ever talk about sending her away?

MOSHE There is a woman. Ronia Rosental. She knows how to leave the ghetto. She finds nice families willing to take children and raise them as their own.

SHEINA A nice family? A nice Catholic family? Ask Ruth Beinstock about nice. Ruth told me just yesterday that she went to the fence to trade. Simonas is terribly sick and she wanted some real butter one more time before he died. She traded her coat, her only coat, for a pound of butter. She ran home to surprise Simonas. What do you think her surprise turned out to be? A brick! That was from a nice Catholic family. I would rather kill her than give her to another family.

MOSHE No, you wouldn’t. It is a sin to say such a thing.

NESE There is a children’s home. Lopšelis Orphanage. She can be left on the doorstep. Others have done this.

SHEINA I will not leave my child on a doorstep— stop this ! All of you! These . . . women . . . who take the children. You don’t think they get caught? I see them accepting bundles at the gate. The Gestapo sees them, too. And when they are caught, what do you think happens to them? What do you think happens to the children?

MOSHE We cannot think . If we think, we will do nothing.

SHEINA Then we will do nothing.

LAIBALE I will take her.

MOSHE What do you mean you will take her?

LAIBALE I can get out. I’ve done it already, to get Mama’s medicine.

NESE No, Laibale! Already they are watching you.

MOSHE Take her where, Laibale? How?

SHEINA Stop this discussion right now.

LAIBALE There’s a place in the fence on Panieru Street. It has been patched and comes apart.

MOSHE How do you know this?

LAIBALE Because Joel and I patched it.

NESE Joel!

LAIBALE Yes. He has been working on a way to escape to the woods.

NESE Then let him. You will have nothing to do with this, Laibale.

MOSHE Will it work, Laibale?

LAIBALE If Joel will help me, yes. It will work.

SHEINA Moshe. I am begging you. This is madness.

MOSHE This is Sara . Our only daughter. Perhaps the last child in our family. We must take the risk, Sheina. How can we deny her this chance to survive?

(SHEINA exits, sobbing.)

NESE God help this family. ANOTHER SHEINA I’m cold.

(ISRAEL attempts to put his arms around her. ANOTHER SHEINA exits.)

NESE Come, Israel.

(NESE and ISRAEL exit.)

MOSHE Where will you take her?

LAIBALE To Father John. He will know what to do.

MOSHE Are you sure?

LAIBALE Yes.

MOSHE Laibale, look at me. Are you sure ?

LAIBALE Yes.

(MOSHE stares into LAIBALE’s eyes, then nods.)

(Outside, at the fence, minutes before first light: SHEINA, ANOTHER SHEINA, NESE.

PROJECTION: Birds on a wire.)

ANOTHER SHEINA Thrushes.

NESE Finches, I think.

ANOTHER SHEINA Why aren’t they singing?

NESE It’s not quite dawn.

ANOTHER SHEINA I had a songbird once. In a cage.

NESE When was this?

ANOTHER SHEINA I was just a girl. I set it free. My mother got very angry with me, but I didn’t care.

NESE Didn’t you miss the singing?

ANOTHER SHEINA No. A bird should not be in a cage.

(Beat)

NESE You must be kinder to Israel, Another Sheina.

(ANOTHER SHEINA bristles.)

I know you did not ask my opinion, but Israel is my son, and it pains me to see you turn from him.

ANOTHER SHEINA He did not stick up for me.

NESE My dear, he has been sticking up for you since you got here. Before that, even. You don’t think I know, but he hides food and shares it only with you. Oh, yes, I see it. And you reward him with silence? You don’t think it is hard enough for a man? You must withdraw as well?

ANOTHER SHEINA He did not save my coat.

NESE Are you meshuggah ? He saved your life . You must forgive him.

SHEINA (hearing something) What was that?

ANOTHER SHEINA Not yet, Sheina. A few more minutes.

SHEINA They will be calling for the count. If he’s not back—

SHEINA What if he’s not?

ANOTHER SHEINA Stop it.

SHEINA It’s just . . . I put a note in the bag. I said she likes oatmeal and honey. Do you think the nuns have oatmeal and honey?

ANOTHER SHEINA I’m sure they do.

SHEINA What if she cries?

ANOTHER SHEINA She won’t cry. The paregoric will keep her quiet.

SHEINA Paregoric. God forgive me. What if she doesn’t wake up?

ANOTHER SHEINA Stop it, Sheina. For the love of God. Sit.

SHEINA I can’t sit.

(NESE has a coughing fit. ANOTHER SHEINA surreptitiously moves away.)

SHEINA You’re getting worse, Nese.

NESE It’s always bad this time of year.

SHEINA I don’t think the medicine is working.

NESE Just as well. Now Laibale will not have to sneak out of the ghetto anymore.

(NESE coughs.)

SHEINA I’m worried about you, Nese.

ANOTHER SHEINA You worry about everything.

SHEINA Yes, I suppose I do. It’s funny, though. I don’t worry about you.

ANOTHER SHEINA Why should you?

SHEINA Exactly. You will always find a way, won’t you? Attach yourself to another family. Hoard bits of food until you have enough to bribe a guard. You will bounce back.

NESE You are being unkind, Sheina. You must ask for forgiveness.

ANOTHER SHEINA She is being ridiculous, is what she is being. I am supposed to apologize for being resourceful?

SHEINA No . . .

ANOTHER SHEINA What then? Tell me what I am supposed to do. All of you Gillmans look down on me like I am something Israel dragged off the street. You think you’re better than me. Well, I didn’t come from a family such as yours, it’s true. I’ve never seen a family argue as you do then turn around and have it be all over, as if nothing had happened. We never spoke openly of love, or forgiveness. You are all too much for me, at times. My heart is not used to such emotion; it cannot bear you. And this war! I am a stranger to myself.

NESE We must not fight.

ANOTHER SHEINA But that’s just it, Nese. We should fight. We should stand up to these . . . pigs. Look at what they have done to us. We are nothing but slave labor to them. I can see a stack of corpses on that next street corner, stacked like timber, and nobody blinks an eye anymore!

NESE We must not fight with each other .

ANOTHER SHEINA What is left? You want to hold my hand? You want to sing to me like a bird? You want to rub my head and tell me everything will be all right? Will that bring me back to myself? All I have left is hunger and anger and fight. So yes. Let’s fight with one another. I swear to God that is the only thing keeping me alive.

NESE What about kindness?

ANOTHER SHEINA There is no kindness. (Beat.

SHEINA sits next to ANOTHER SHEINA, who bristles.)

Fly away, bird. There is not enough room for you here.

(SHEINA takes ANOTHER SHEINA’s hand.)

SHEINA Everything will be all right.

ANOTHER SHEINA Pfft. Now, who is meshuggah ?

(She tries to pull away. SHEINA holds fast then sings a lullaby. We can imagine her singing it to Sara. ANOTHER SHEINA looks at her like she is crazy then is slowly seduced by the simple beauty of the moment. When SHEINA encourages ANOTHER SHEINA to rest her head, there is no resistance. In the distance, after a bit, we hear, “ Roust! Schnell! Schnell! ”)

SHEINA Oh my God. Laibale will miss the count. What will we do? What will we do?

(ANOTHER SHEINA reaches into her pocket and pulls out bread.)

ANOTHER SHEINA We will use our resources.

SHEINA Where did you get bread!?

ANOTHER SHEINA I don’t think the guard will care, do you?

(The women exit.)

(LAIBALE enters with JOEL and MECK.)

JOEL When they ask about Sara, tell them she died.

LAIBALE But that is bad luck!

MECK Hey. You do what you gotta do, brother.

LAIBALE Who’s this guy again?

MECK I’m Meck. I saw you win that race a few years ago. I’d never seen anyone handle a motorcycle like that. You practically flew!

LAIBALE Yeah . . . thanks.

JOEL Listen. If I don’t see you again—

LAIBALE What are you talking about?

JOEL Meck and I are joining the resistance fighters in the woods. I’m taking them the radio. They’ll pass it along.

MECK We’re also taking them this.

(Shows a gun)

LAIBALE What are you doing? Put it away.

JOEL Listen, Laibale. The Gestapo knows people have been getting out of the ghetto. It’s only a matter of time before they find the patch in the fence. You can’t stay here. Come with Meck and me.

LAIBALE I can’t leave my family. My mother is sick.

MECK Hey, it’s every man for himself.

LAIBALE I can’t.

(To Joel)

Can you do me one last favor?

JOEL Hurry up with it.

LAIBALE That liter of wool I asked you to keep at your house. Is it still there?

JOEL It is. I hid it well.

LAIBALE Good man. I want you to get it and drop it near the officer’s headquarters. The guard leaves his post all the time. Either he has a girlfriend or very weak bowels.

JOEL You want the Germans to have your mother’s wool?

LAIBALE Yes.

JOEL Why?

LAIBALE That’s my business.

MECK We don’t have time for that, Joel.

JOEL We’ll make the time. Good luck, Laibale.

LAIBALE . . . I’m never going to see you on this side of the fence again.

JOEL I hope not. But catch you on the other side, eh? Come here.

(They embrace.)

Stay alive, Laibale. The war can’t last forever.

(And just like that, JOEL and MECK are gone.

In the distance, “Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen . . .”

MOSHE and SHEINA enter.)

MOSHE Laibale!

LAIBALE She’s safe.

(MOSHE faints. SHEINA helps him up.)

Let’s get in line.

(They run.

SOUND: Birds sing as the count continues.

Lights out. Then—

SOUND: Gunshots! Siren! Loudspeaker spouts frantic German commands.)

Scene 8

(In the woods.

PROJECTION: Archival photo of resistance fighters in the woods. JOEL, dirty, exhausted, traumatized, talks to the resistance leader.)

JOEL They got Meck! It was my fault. Laibale wanted me to take his mother’s wool to the officer’s quarters. Meck said we didn’t have time because you guys were in the woods waiting for us, but I did it anyway.

(He scratches.)

Because he is my friend, and he asked me to do it, so I did it.

So after I dropped off the wool, I joined Meck at the fence. I went first. We heard voices, and I guess Meck panicked. He fired shots . . .

(Beat)

I tried! But I dropped the radio, and it just broke apart. I picked up what I could, but Meck kept saying, run, run, and he threw me the gun. So I ran.

(Beat)

Yes, I have it. Here.

(Gives gun)

No, I had to leave the radio behind. I don’t know how Meck got caught. I thought he was right behind me.

(Beat)

I said, I don’t know! I thought he was right behind me ! God! I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know . . . I’m sorry, all right? . . . I’m so sorry.

(Office of COLONEL CRAMER.

PROJECTION: Archival picture of guard standing outside.

COLONEL CRAMER and LAIBALE.

There are several stuffed toys about, made out of ANOTHER SHEINA’s mink coat. A radio’s copper coil spills like guts onto a table.

COLONEL CRAMER models a partially sewn jacket.)

COLONEL CRAMER What do you think? I had a bit of problem along the placket, but it’s coming along very well, I think.

LAIBALE Nice wool.

COLONEL CRAMER It is, isn’t it? A gift to me, I think. I don’t know who left it. One of the women, surely.

LAIBALE A secret admirer.

COLONEL CRAMER Hee hee! Do you think? Perhaps so. Well, sit down, sit down. No, stand up. No, what the hell. Go ahead and sit. I wish to show you something.

(Scratching his neck, he opens a desk drawer, pulls out LAIBALE’s medal.)

You have seen this before?

LAIBALE My medal!

COLONEL CRAMER Ah. You belong to it then.

LAIBALE I won that in the motorcycle race!

COLONEL CRAMER So I understand.

LAIBALE Are you . . . are you going to give it back to me?

COLONEL CRAMER Oh, yes. Of course. Certainly. You won it, correct?

LAIBALE Yes . . .

(LAIBALE reaches for it.)

Tut, tut. First, you will tell me what I need to know. You are aware we arrested your friend, Meck?

LAIBALE Everybody knows that by now.

COLONEL CRAMER And rightly so. We wish to make an example of him.

LAIBALE Just for smuggling?

COLONEL CRAMER No, little Jew. For firing shots at German officers from a stolen gun. I don’t give a shit about smuggling. As long as you people share with my guards, I am willing to turn away, especially since your mother was arrested, poor woman. Some of my men are too ambitious, is all. I am glad to hear no harm came to her. Do you know why you are here, Laibale?

LAIBALE No.

COLONEL CRAMER Because it seems Meck is not inclined to talk.

LAIBALE What do you want him to talk about?

COLONEL CRAMER This radio, for one thing. Have you ever seen this radio before?

LAIBALE No.

COLONEL CRAMER I must warn you, Laibale. It will not go well for you if you lie to me. People have a way of disappearing in the ghetto. By the way, my condolences. I understand you lost a little niece. Such a shame when one dies so young. I did not know she was even sick.

LAIBALE It was sudden. Sheina is heartbroken. I mean, we all are.

COLONEL CRAMER Yes, yes, heartbroken. An interesting word, don’t you think? Because the heart, I am not sure it can be broken , per se. But the bones? The bones are another thing. And when bones are broken, it hurts very badly. You could ask Meck about this, but of course, he is not available at the moment.

(Picks something from his neck, looks at it, flicks it)

LAIBALE Yes.

COLONEL CRAMER Yes? Yes what?

LAIBALE Yes, that is my radio.

COLONEL CRAMER Aha! The memory returns.

LAIBALE But we gave it up when you guys told us to. We brought it out. So what happened to it after that, I have no idea. Maybe you should be asking the Gestapo how Meck got it.

COLONEL CRAMER Thank you, little Jew, for knowing exactly what is best for me, and for so kindly advising me on how to manage my staff.

LAIBALE I’m just trying to—

COLONEL CRAMER Don’t try !

(Beat)

Where was this radio going, Laibale?

LAIBALE Is Dr. Elkes—?

COLONEL CRAMER Coming? No. I will ask you again. Where was Meck taking this radio?

LAIBALE I don’t know.

COLONEL CRAMER To the forest, perhaps?

LAIBALE I said, I don’t know.

COLONEL CRAMER How many are hiding in the forest, Laibale?

LAIBALE I don’t know.

COLONEL CRAMER How many guns do they have?

LAIBALE I don’t know anything about guns.

COLONEL CRAMER Who else escaped through the fence last night?

LAIBALE I don’t know. I wasn’t there.

COLONEL CRAMER Somebody named Joel? Is that correct?

LAIBALE Colonel Cramer, I don’t know anything.

COLONEL CRAMER You don’t know anything? Do you know what happens to Jews who don’t know anything?

(LAIBALE shakes his head.)

This !

(COLONEL CRAMER snatches up LAIBALE and forces him to look out the window.)

Look out there! Look! Do you see that, Laibale? Do you ?

LAIBALE Yes.

COLONEL CRAMER And what do you see?

LAIBALE A gallows.

COLONEL CRAMER And at noon tomorrow, Meck is going to swing from that gallows, and every single person in this goddamned ghetto is going to walk by in single file and look into his bloody Jewish face. And when I am finished with him, I will kill his family. Do not think I will not do the same with you.

LAIBALE You’re. Hurting. Me.

COLONEL CRAMER I have been patient with you, Laibale. I have looked the other way when you and your little friends defy my orders. I look the other way when I see that your mother is old and sick and should have been eliminated long ago. But I see what you are doing here. Don’t think that I don’t. You may be a talented little kike, but you are not indispensable, and you will tell me what Meck was doing with radio or I will kill you, do you understand that ?

(Drops him suddenly)

Goddamn , I am itching like a filthy Jewish bastard! Augh!

(He rips the half-sewn coat from his body, throws it on the floor, rips off his shirt.)

COLONEL CRAMER Lice! I have lice! AUGH!

(LAIBALE grabs his medal and runs for his life.

Light change.

SOUND: Echo effect of COLONEL CRAMER screaming or perhaps bells tolling.

PROJECTION: ESTHER’s drawing of MECK hanging from the gallows.)

(Near the ghetto gate)

PETRAS Over here! Quickly!

(LAIBALE and NESE enter.)

NESE Is that Petras? How is your mother, dear?

LAIBALE Shh, Mama.

NESE He looks so grown up.

(Coughs)

LAIBALE I can’t thank you enough.

PETRAS Save it. Through here. Hurry up.

(Distant yelling, in German. “Over there! Get the dogs! Shine a light!” etc.)

LAIBALE We’re going to have to move fast, Mama. Lean on me.

NESE What about Moshe and Israel and the others?

LAIBALE I’ll come back for them later. Where is the motorcycle?

PETRAS Beneath the bridge. Take it to the church in Zezmer. There is a priest there. Father Bruno. He knows where the resistance force is hiding. Stay out of the town. Do not follow the river. It’s the first road they will search.

LAIBALE Petras, I—

(LAIBALE and PETRAS embrace.

More yelling.

Nearing lamplights throw beams.)

PETRAS Get the hell out of here!

(They go. CAPTAIN LEITUKIS enters.)

PETRAS Valter! My God, look at you ! Long time, no see! Remember me? Petras Repsytus.

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS Where are they?

PETRAS Who?

VALTER Don’t play with me, Jew.

PETRAS Oh, you mean Laibale and his mother? You just missed them! They’re following the river. I’m Catholic, by the way—!

(CAPTAIN LEITUKIS shoots PETRAS. He falls dead.)

CAPTAIN LEITUKIS The river! Hurry!

(A bunker in the ghetto.

DR. ELKES, ESTHER, GEORGE, RABBI SHAPIRO assemble materials.

PROJECTION: Archival picture of ESTHER’s watercolors.)

DR. ELKES We must include all your sketches, Esther.

ESTHER I will give you a few, but I have hidden the rest carefully, Dr. Elkes.

DR. ELKES Inside the pottery?

ESTHER How did you—?

DR. ELKES If I know, others will know. And if there is a fire—please allow me to preserve them for you.

GEORGE These are the last of my photos, Doctor.

DR. ELKES Nearly one thousand of them. Do you realize that, George?

GEORGE That many?

DR. ELKES What have we here, Rabbi Shapiro?

RABBI SHAPIRO Joel’s accounting, Dr. Elkes.

(PROJECTION: Archival picture of “Numbers That Demand an Accounting!”)

RABBI SHAPIRO A memorial plaque. The doors open to reveal the fate of Kovno’s Jews. The men, women, children who were murdered. They will never be forgotten.

DR. ELKES Joel did this? It is . . . beautiful. And this?

(PROJECTION: Archival picture of “And These are the Laws—German Style.”)

RABBI SHAPIRO A compilation of decrees and orders issued by the Germans. Dates, copies of the orders, and the issuing commanders. They may destroy all the evidence they can, but they will have their reckoning.

DR. ELKES As will we, Rabbi. Ah. The almanac. Very good.

(PROJECTION: Archival picture of yearbook.)

RABBI SHAPIRO The folk songs, poetry, illustrations of ghetto insignia and armbands. Signs, symbols, more works of graphic arts. . . . Also, by my hand, a detailed history of the Jewish Ghetto Police. And here, Dr. Elkes, I took the minutes of all the meetings, testifying to your leadership on the Jewish Council, how you saved families from certain death.

DR. ELKES Oh, now.

GEORGE We’ll need crates for all this.

ESTHER What will we do with it all?

DR. ELKES Bury it. And then, one day, unearth it.

GEORGE (gesturing to all) Draw in.

(Light change as they huddle, intertwined)

GEORGE We swear to tell no one of the existence or location of these treasures. No matter what. Even if it means we get hurt.

ESTHER We will protect our renderings.

GEORGE Our photographs.

RABBI SHAPIRO Our words.

DR. ELKES Our history. May we always know who we are, from whence we came, and what we have endured.

(Music brings us into next scene.)

(In the woods, near Zezmer.

NESE and LAIBALE ride onto the stage on the motorcycle. NESE looks weak.

PROJECTION: Dark birds.)

NESE Why are we stopping?

LAIBALE I wanted to see this place one last time.

(SOUND: Bird.)

NESE I remember now. Where the birds light.

LAIBALE Yes.

NESE We are near Zezmer then.

LAIBALE How are you feeling?

NESE Dead.

LAIBALE Don’t say such a thing. Shall we rest?

(He helps her off the bike, then places his jacket on the ground. Mock formal.)

Would you care to sit, my lady?

NESE Borscht and kugel.

LAIBALE What?

NESE Every night. Borscht and kugel.

LAIBALE Here. Lie down.

LAIBALE Stop that!

NESE Your father hated borscht and kugel. I could make many other things, but after I got mad at him, I only made for him borscht and kugel. What sort of a wife does something like that?

LAIBALE Are you okay?

NESE And then keeps doing it?

LAIBALE It was good! In fact, I wish we had some now.

NESE Why couldn’t I let that go? I lecture Another Sheina about Israel, yet I am guilty of the same pettiness.

LAIBALE I think you’re tired, Mama. I could feel you growing weak behind me.

NESE So many things.

LAIBALE Why don’t you try to go to sleep for a few minutes?

NESE Sara.

LAIBALE She is safe.

NESE I will never see her again.

LAIBALE Of course you will. Let me get you some water.

NESE I have a lot of pictures in my head.

LAIBALE Oh?

NESE My wedding photo.

(Beat)

I don’t look very happy.

LAIBALE Well.

NESE Moshe, as a baby. Then Israel. And you. My little lion.

(LAIBALE brings her a cup of water and hard salami.)

LAIBALE Salami! Another Sheina must have dipped into her stash. So generous of her. I’m sure it was all she had.

NESE I am foolish to wish for better times. There is pain wherever you look. And we all carry around our own little cup of it.

LAIBALE Shhh. Drink.

NESE Where are the cups of kindness?

LAIBALE They are small, Mama, but we drink from them. Thanks to Another Sheina, we eat from them as well.

NESE Where am I to go, Laibale?

LAIBALE Father Bruno will advise us.

NESE No, I mean for eternity.

LAIBALE Heaven, of course. But not for a long time yet.

(A lantern casts a light.)

LAIBALE Who is there?

(Silence)

What do you want?

NESE What is happening, Laibale?

LAIBALE I’m not sure.

(Packing up)

We have to go.

NESE But you said we should rest . . .

LAIBALE I know. I’m sorry.

(ENSEMBLE on stage, as in the top of Act 1. Low backlight keeps them in silhouette. They are still.)

LAIBALE You steady?

NESE As a one-legged goat.

(Add lines here if more time is needed to get NESE situated on motorcycle.)

LAIBALE Here we go.

(As LAIBALE attempts to start the bike, ENSEMBLE vocally imitate, slowly at first, the sound of a motorcycle engine being turned over.)

ENSEMBLE Tick.

Tick.

Caw.

Harumpf.

Tick.

Harumpf. Clunk.

Tick.

Ca-caw. Chirp. Tweet.

Harummmmmmmmmm, chug, rattle, clunk.

Caw caw.

Tick.

LAIBALE Come on, Icarus.

(But this time, the engine does not turn over.)

NESE Why won’t it start?

LAIBALE I don’t know. It was fine before.

NESE Maybe it will start in the morning, Laibale.

LAIBALE I know you’re tired, Mama, but we can’t stay here. That might have been a German soldier. He will bring others. Can you walk?

NESE I don’t think so, Laibale. I’m sorry.

(ACTOR #1 steps out.)

ACTOR #1 Hello.

(They react.)

Do you need help?

NESE LAIBALE Yes! Thank you! No. We’re good.

NESE We’re looking for Father Bruno. Do you know him?

(ACTOR #2 steps out.)

ACTOR #2 You’re Catholic then?

NESE LAIBALE No. Yes.

(The number of actors available to “step out” as TOWNSPEOPLE will determine how the lines are distributed.)

TOWNSPEOPLE Are you out of gas?

We can take you to a gas station.

We have a truck.

NESE They have a truck, Laibale!

LAIBALE I can hear, Mama.

TOWNSPEOPLE What’s going on?

Who is that?

What are you doing here?

Where are you going?

LAIBALE My mother is sick. We are trying to find a doctor.

TOWNSPEOPLE I thought you said you were looking for a priest.

LAIBALE We are looking for a priest and a doctor.

TOWNSPEOPLE

(They have shotguns.)

No priests around here.

No doctor either.

NESE Laibale.

LAIBALE Stay calm. We’re okay. They are not German.

TOWNSPEOPLE No, we are not German.

We are Lithuanian.

What’s that around your neck?

I know you!

You’re the Jew who won that race in Slobodka.

NESE LAIBALE Yes! No!

TOWNSPEOPLE Well, which is it?

Yes or no?

LAIBALE You’re mistaken. We don’t live around here.

TOWNSPEOPLE Where do you live?

The ghetto in Kovno, I’ll bet.

They escaped!

NESE No!

TOWNSPEOPLE They’re Jews!

What are you doing out of the ghetto, Jews?

LAIBALE I told you, my mother is sick!

TOWNSPEOPLE It is him! The Jew who won the race. Look! He wears the medal around his neck!

LAIBALE Mama. We have to run.

NESE I cannot, Laibale. I cannot.

TOWNSPEOPLE Nobody is running anywhere.

(NESE’S knees buckle. LAIBALE supports her.)

We don’t want Jews in our town.

We already got rid of all of you once.

Pretty soon, there’s another one, and another one.

They hatch like vermin.

Ha ha.

You have to get rid of them all at once.

LAIBALE Help us leave then.

TOWNSPEOPLE Jew boy!

Take off that medal, Jew boy.

Well? We’re waiting.

LAIBALE If I give it to you, will you let us go?

TOWNSPEOPLE

(Points gun at NESE’s head)

Take it off.

(LAIBALE takes off the medal.)

And your clothes. Her, too.

LAIBALE No.

TOWNSPEOPLE Both of you.

LAIBALE No.

NESE It’s all right, Laibale.

LAIBALE No, Mama!

TOWNSPEOPLE Take off your clothes.

NESE I love you, my little lion. You have always been so brave. It is my turn to be brave. But I never imagined I would have be brave against my own countrymen.

(The TOWNSPEOPLE close in.)

TOWNSPEOPLE Take off their clothes.

LAIBALE Mama.

(The TOWNSPEOPLE move in. All action is suspended.)

REBEKKAH Dear Laibale, Last night I dreamed I saw you and your mother in the woods near Zezmer, where you and I became husband and wife. I wanted so badly to be with you. I am married to Eric now, Laibale, but I love you still. I always will.

GEORGE They are turning the ghetto into a concentration camp! Jews arrive from all over Europe, and are quickly executed or sent to Estonia to starve in slave labor camps. I am honoring our pledge, Laibale. As long as I can see, I will take pictures.

ESTHER They burned the ghetto to the ground! Thank God I listened to Dr. Elkes and took my paintings out of the pottery. They are all I have left of Menachim. I still have the one I drew of you, too, Laibale, when you won the race. You seemed so young then. We all did. Not anymore.

DR. ELKES I have been moved to Germany to work in the hospital at Landsberg Concentration Camp. I still hear the pleas of the families I could not save. My eyes are coals. Words are ashes in my mouth.

JOEL (wearing garb of the resistance forces) No one calls me Typhus Boy anymore. It might have something to do with this.

(Shows his rifle)

RABBI SHAPIRO The Germans found out about the archives, but I would not tell them where the crates were buried, not even after they ripped the ears from my head. I am at peace.

VALTER You cost me my life, you little shit. If I’d killed my father a long time ago, maybe I wouldn’t have had to kill myself.

ISRAEL (with ANOTHER SHEINA) We got out. When I heard about you and Mama— I will find you, Laibale, and give you a proper burial. This is my promise.

ANOTHER SHEINA Were it not for you, Laibale, we would have perished with the others. You and your family showed me kindness, and taught me how to love.

Israel and I are to be married soon. If we have a son, we will name him Laibale. If we don’t have a son, a grandson will be named for you. We will always remember you.

MOSHE (with SHEINA) Sara lives. Our perfect child.

SHEINA Thanks to you, she will become a medical doctor. A doctor, Laibale!

(Return to the scene.

Behind a scrim, there is a struggle, sounds of resistance, then overpowering. The armed TOWNSPEOPLE take aim.

Blackout.

SOUND: Distant gunfire, then a rush of birds on the wing, agitated.

FINAL TABLEAU: Crates of archival materials.)