"I Hope..." The Diaries of Elisabeth Block and Anne Frank

"I Hope..." The Diaries of Elisabeth Block and Anne Frank

A stage adaptation based on the diaries of Anne Frank and Elisabeth Block

Classroom theatre piece for ages 14+

Running time: approximately 60 minutes (including discussion approximately 90 minutes)

About the piece:
Who am I? And more importantly: who do I want to be?
What place do I want to have in society?
These big questions are something every teenager grapples with - right?
But what happens when that place is suddenly taken away? What happens when discriminatory parties plant their ideology so deeply in people's minds that exclusion becomes deadly?

"I hope I will be able to confide everything in you", are the first words Anne Frank wrote on June 12, 1942, in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Three months earlier and 800 km away, 19-year-old Elisabeth Block from Rosenheim writes in her diary about the birth of her friend's child. It would be her last entry. The Block family, also Jewish, was deported and likely murdered in a Polish camp.

Between Elisabeth Block's last diary entry and Anne Frank's first, there are not just 96 days, but also two completely different life situations and circumstances. They were two very different teenagers, yet they suffered the same tragic fate. Because of their belonging to a group, they were discriminated against, excluded, tortured, and murdered.
Despite their difficult circumstances, they are united by an incredible strength: a will to live that is unparalleled, and whose radiance is both fascinating and inspiring. With hearts full of hope, they continually turn their gaze to the beautiful things in life. Picking flowers. Baking cookies. Reading. Writing. Hair dancing in the wind.
How do students gain access to the events of the Nazi era? How do we ourselves make this time comprehensible, in order to