The Gift of Happy Memories: A World War II Christmas Puppet Play in Ravensbrück

Abstract

Szopki, Polish musical nativity puppet plays, were a widespread but relatively unstudied artistic response to Nazi occupation among Polish Catholics in Nazi concentration camps. Polish inmates used the szopki as an opportunity to subvert censorship, as the nativity story is only a small portion of a szopki production. The artist Maja Berezowska and Varsovian actress Jadwiga Kopijowska wrote and performed the Szopka Polska in Ravensbrück in 1942, 1943 and 1944. This article examines the adaption of traditional carols and puppets to facilitate a purposeful recreation of happy and comforting prewar memories in the play. Framing the sharing of positive memories as a form of caretaking builds on scholarship that focuses on less visible resistance, as these activities, especially communal activities led by women, are often overlooked in scholarship in favor of more overt or dramatic actions. The Szopka Polska writers drew strength from representations of childhood and motherhood. Parodied traditional songs and stock szopki scenes promoted Polish heritage and normalcy, using Poland's past triumphs as hope for future liberation. Three puppets, the Soldier, Polish Mother, and Inmate, who attend the nativity, directly address the inmates' World War II experiences, a phenomenon that rarely occurred in other forms of concentration camp theater. These three puppets, the nineteenth-century puppet Wiarus, and a skit for two children who address the puppets on stage promote survival and resistance by modeling productive reactions to oppression.  @font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;line-height:115%;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}