Ein deutsches Leben

Josefstädter Strasse 26

1080 Wien

 

German version by Sabine Pribil

But we didn't want to know.

After decades of silence, Brunhilde Pomsel, at the age of 103, spoke extensively for the first time about her time as a stenographer and secretary to Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Although Pomsel worked for one of the greatest criminals in history and for the Nazi leadership, she always described herself as a "marginal figure" and completely "apolitical." Even during the final days of the war, she remained in the already destroyed city and sewed the flag of Berlin's official surrender in the bunker. Afterward, she was taken prisoner by the Soviets. Until the very end, she insisted that she had only learned about the Holocaust after the end of National Socialism.

The English playwright Christopher Hampton has written a powerful play based on the original conversations Brunhilde Pomsel had with Christian Krönes, Olaf S. Müller, Roland Schrotthofer, and Florian Weigensamer for the film of the same name, *A German Life*. Pomsel's life story raises the question of each individual's personal responsibility for current political events.

The premiere took place in London in 2019 with Maggie Smith. Lore Stefanek will play Goebbels' secretary in Vienna, directed by award-winning Andrea Breth.

(Source: josefstadt.org)