About this Book

Ch. 5 (pp. 76-97), "Dante, Marx, and Auschwitz", discusses Weiss's play "Die Ermittlung" (1965). Modelled on Dante's "Divine Comedy", the play is based on the protocols of the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, eschewing the direct portrayal of the horror in favor of its modern depiction in the courtroom. Weiss does not view the Holocaust as outside history, nor as specifically German, arguing that any people could have perpetrated it, and portraying the camp staff as average or even model citizens. The victims, he argues, were condemned by their social status, not their religion - the play does not mention their background. Weiss stressed that many of the perpetrators continued to thrive in West Germany, emphasizing the survival of capitalist enterprise. Highly controversial politically, the play was criticized for using Auschwitz in the service of the Cold War.