Teacher Testimonials for THIN EDGE OF THE WEDGE

German translation benefactor Amos Kraemer wrote in German about his personal commitment to this project. Thanks to Google translator, here are his comments in English:

I am writing to you as the one who made the German translation of the piece “Steps in den Abgrund / Thin Edge of the Wedge” possible. For 20 years I have been working in the state school service at a Heidelberg gymnasium school in the subjects of history and physics. I got to know Ms. Zimbler Miller and her project at a Zoom meeting on a different topic. I found the approach of having a play that is directly based on reports from contemporary witnesses interesting.

I have taught the subject of the Holocaust many times and as a teacher you always ask yourself how you can convey this sensitive subject, especially in a limited time. The play is first and foremost a reading, not so much real theater with the plot and interaction of the actors. As such, it can be read by the students, in whole or in part, in class or on a school stage.

Such a presentation, which gives an overview of the various fates of persecution from Eastern Europe, may offer a different and more emotional approach than if one were to work on written material or watch films. At the same time, the play does not work with dramatization and fictionalization, so it remains very much on the factual-historical level and therefore perhaps has a special credibility. The narrative figure of the author gives the individual fates a bracket and creates a reference to today.

The author does not want any money for the use of the piece and I financed the professional translation into German as a donation on my part. I think it would be nice and useful to make the text for the piece perceptible and accessible for history teachers, maybe in an indicative article or link.

— Amos Krämer, Internationale Gesamtschule Heidelberg