Where were we when every village in Germany had a train station to take children to Dachau? From the corner of the stage, Jennings, a former lawyer, judge and former minister of justice, tells the audience and his own that if no one knew what was happening, it was because they didn't want to know. The scene is repeated with some changes, in other times and places.
Children and women heading towards death, hunger and murder, injustice and decisions in the name of the nation, homeland, superiority and right. Under the title “Justice at Nuremberg”, director Arben Kumbaro gives life to the play by Abby Mann, which, by dealing with historical trials, also puts history and its characters on the scale, without a single drop of mercy. But why now? Because the extreme right has taken revenge, so what begins by taking the Nazi trials as a trigger speaks to today.
"This is a rhetorical question. There has been a return of the extreme right in Europe for 6-7 years. There are more and more calls for war and social conflicts. A character at the end of the piece says that a new world order is emerging, and we read this phrase every day in the newspapers," says Arben Kumbaro.
It is impossible that while watching the characters; one side judges and the other side defends Nazism - not to think about other ideological -isms. Parallels are also made for communism in Albania, for punishments equally in the name of the homeland, the nation and justice and for any time, when justice becomes a tool of power with or without consciousness.
"There are many similar moments to the history of the 50 years before World War II and the post-war period. This was the main temptation to speak to reality. But there is also a deeper reflection on our history with communism. We have never been convinced that we have maintained a morally correct stance towards that period and we are indebted to this people for justice," said director Kumbaro, while the performance includes exodus, empty hands and vessels directed towards eyes that do not see.
With almost 20 artists on stage, “Justice at Nuremberg” confronts us with the responsibility we have as a society, not only for our actions, but also for our silence. For what we do not see and what we refuse to see, in the name of personal, party or group gain. Because as the characters say, our corruption begins with the first decision against an innocent person and while the world has turned into a battlefield, Kumbaro, in the name of art, warns of future trials for what is happening today:
"Things are happening very quickly in the world today. Every day we hear news about wars, about bombs, about massacres and genocide. We are talking about a genocide there, but in fact history reminds us that these tragedies can be repeated if we do not reflect."
The play "Justice at Nuremberg" brings us a trial scene, where everyone maintains a position, but someone even opens their eyes in a mea culpa - where we understand how those who dreamed of a world without weapons end up pointing the barrel at us.
