On the 1st of December, I attended a play at the PAC. Tom Dugan’s, Simon Wiesenthal
: Nazi Hunter is a historical play that attempts to depict Wiesenthal in the
most accurate manner possible. The play is constructed in an educational but
creative way. The story is told by Wiesenthal (played by Dugan) through direct
conversation with the audience with segments that consist of vivid flashbacks.
It is a one man play so every character is played by Dugan which makes it both
humorous and also gives the flashbacks a sense of authenticity since it is told
from the point of view of Wiesenthal.

The play opens with Wiesenthal walking into his office for the last time. This is
his final day working at the office in which he has worked for most of his
career. Wiesenthal tracked down numerous Nazi officials who either escaped
capture during the allied liberation, or were slippery enough to evade trial.
There is a main focus of the play which Dugan makes clear early on. Although
this is a play about the life of Wiesenthal, Dugan has constructed the play to
make certain aspects about his life that he thinks are important, more
apparent. Wiesenthal tells the audience that in all his time as a Nazi Hunter,
he has yet to ask one very important question, which he does not get to until
the very end of the play.

About half way through the performance, Wiesenthal tells a story of how he was going
through documents found in an old Austrian church when a small not fell out of
a book. He picked it up and discovered that the note was a farewell letter to
whoever might find it. The little boy who wrote the note, Albert, stated that
he was the “last one” and that they were coming for him. He wanted to
be remembered and said that he was bestowing his trust upon the person who
would find this letter. The line “I trust you” had a big impact on
Wiesenthal and it was this that drove him through many of his endeavors. By bringing
Nazi’s to justice he kept Albert alive.

The play ends with Wiesenthal about to leave, but not before he discusses the
question that he forgot to ask himself throughout his whole career. Since he is
now retiring, “who will remember Albert?” Then, he entrusts the
audience with his memory of Albert, repeating the line “I trust you.”

The play is very touching and informative. I think that although there is a lot of
information about the holocaust that is currently out there, this is a play
which takes the isolated endeavors of one man and relates them to everyone
else. We need to band together and spread information in order to ensure that
genocide will not occur.