History of Theatre Studies: Swiss/Austrian Networks/Contexts

What does it mean when a scientific field was considered particularly important under National Socialism: That is the initial question for our project. We wonder why such a harmless and beautiful subject as theater was relevant to the cruel, inhuman policies of the Nazis. Vienna in particular showed how art, culture and science were used and could be used to justify the exclusion, abuse, enslavement, mass deportation and murder of millions of people. Baldur von Schirach, Reich governor of Vienna, tested here for the first time how mass deportations are carried out, in front of the eyes of the population. He was considered to be particularly artistic and made it possible to study theater at the University of Vienna. As manager, he found a convinced National Socialist in Heinz Kindermann in Vienna, who had already made a career for himself in Nazi Germany. In 1943 the Central Institute for Theater Studies was opened at the University of Vienna under Kindermann`s direction. The importance of scientists like Heinz Kindermann has not been researched in connection with the Holocaust and the inhuman ideology of the National Socialists. We ask ourselves which people, which ideas, which forms of theatre, which notions of culture have been excluded and given up to oblivion. With the help of digital methods and digital technology, we will make as many forgotten life stories from the theater sector visible again as possible. In cooperation with the Swiss Institute for Theater Studies at the University of Bern, we are developing stories written by exile, the Holocaust, the persecution of homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, and non-conformists. Our cross-border cooperation is of great importance, since Swiss history between 1938 and 1945 hides many taboos in dealing with refugees from Nazi Germany. Switzerland was an important place of refuge and at the same time cruel in dealing with people on the run. In Switzerland, for example, Jews were marked with a J in their passport, which was life-threatening. And even after the end of the war, as in Austria, responsibility for the Holocaust was denied and concealed. But instead worked on a seemingly harmless Swiss identity, very similar to Austria, theater and culture played a very important role in this process. Our common goal is to look behind the scenes of this belated trivialization of Austrian and Swiss identity. We tell different, forgotten life and survival stories from the theater and culture to encourage people to recognize and counteract exclusionary, hateful politics. We make visible what should be excluded and with it the prejudices that lie behind it.