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A new musical spotlights the Nazi persecution of LGBTQ+ people
(New York Jewish Week) — Some 50,000 gay men and women were imprisoned by Nazis during the Holocaust. Of them, approximately 10,000 to 15,000 were held in concentration camps, and nearly all of those who were sent to the camps died there.
And yet, many stories of LGBTQ+ people who died in Nazi prisons are left untold. The numbers, while huge, shrink in comparison to the millions of Jewish people who died and were tortured at the hands of the Nazis.
This dynamic is why writer, director and actor Alan Palmer first learned about Nazi persecution of homosexuals completely by chance. In August 2016, Palmer — who is best known for his off-Broadway show “Fabulous Divas of Broadway” and his role on the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” — was performing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival when he stumbled upon an article about the specific targeting of gay men and women under Hitler. He found himself falling into a world of ever-deepening research, consumed by the idea that there were so many lost stories of LGBTQ+ people who died in concentration camps.
Inspired, Palmer decided to travel to Germany. There, he visited some concentration camps and saw pictures of the gay men who were imprisoned there. “I found these beautiful photos of these people who were Jewish and trans” and gay], Palmer said. “Being a writer of musicals by trade, the pictures started me on a journey of writing this new piece.”
This “new piece” is Palmer’s one-man play, “Chanteuse: A Survival Musical,” which he’s currently performing at Here Arts Center (145 Sixth Ave.). The play relates the story of Werner, a gay man in 1930s Berlin who assumes the identity of his landlady, a German woman who had died unexpectedly, in order to avoid persecution and imprisonment. A performer by trade, Werner reinvents himself as a chanteuse and begins singing for his supper, and survival, in the clubs of Berlin. “It’s fictional, in a way, because there’s no [single] person who had this experience,” Palmer told the New York Jewish Week. “However, each one of the pieces [in the play] is true.”
The play explores the precarity of survival and how intersecting identities complicate ideas about oppression and freedom. “There are heart-wrenching stories of Jewish families whose relatives were killed during these times. And some of those people were gay — but you don’t hear about them much,” Palmer said. “The reason is families didn’t talk about it back then. If Uncle So-and-so was sent away [before the round-ups of Jews intensified], no one talked about why. So all of these records of people who existed are just gone.”
Palmer plays Werner, a gay man in 1930s Berlin who assumes the identity of his landlady to escape Nazi persecution. (Russ Rowland)
Despite being raised in a Mormon community in Salt Lake City, Palmer said he’s long felt a kinship with Jews. “As soon as I left [home] I began to make lifelong friendships with Jewish people, mostly because of theater. You can’t have theater without Jewish people or gay people!” he said. “When I see the rise of antisemitism today I just think: ‘For gosh sakes, how can people keep attacking this group of people?’”
As “Chanteuse” unfolds, Werner, like so many gay men during that time, isn’t able to escape the long arm of the Nazi regime for long. He is eventually outed and imprisoned in a concentration camp, where he both experiences and witnesses brutal violence and dehumanization. “Even though the Jewish people are in another camp on the other side of the wall, there are still a small number of gay Jews on this side. On Friday evenings, the gay Jewish men pray,” he relates, in a touching monologue toward the end of the scene.
“Chanteuse,” written and performed by Palmer and directed by Dorothy Danner, is about memorializing those whose stories were lost. Throughout the play, Werner relates stories of LGBTQ+ prisoners as well as Romani people, people with mental and physical disabilities, and, of course, Jewish people he meets throughout his calamitous journey. It is also, however, about creating connections to the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and antisemitism in the current age.
To that end, Palmer curated a mini pop-up museum, displayed in the atrium outside the theater, that presents information about what happened to members of the LGBTQ+ community in Europe during World War II. “I envisioned people engaging before the performance and having the information sink in during the play,” Palmer said. “But it’s interesting to see how many people walk past all of these panels, and after the show they went out to the museum and actually spent time reading and viewing the history.”
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gay men were “often subjected to physical and sexual abuse by camp guards and fellow inmates,” and some were “beaten and publicly humiliated.” Some of these prisoners were also subject to inhumane medical experiments or forced castration, according to the USHMM. These “pink triangle prisoners,” named for the badge they were forced to wear in the camps, were arrested for breaking an existing German law that made same-sex relations illegal in the country.
The exhibit draws direct connections between the use of the legal system and false medical science by the Nazis and the current rise in vitriol directed towards the LGBTQ+ community in America and around the world. While our government isn’t conducting forced castrations of gay men and women like the Nazis did, given the veritable flood of anti-LGBTQ+ (and particularly anti-trans) laws being passed by state governments across the United States, Palmer believes we should be paying very close attention to these legislative moves before it’s too late.
“History cannot repeat itself,” Palmer said. “People are being silenced. They’re being forced to hide. I’ve never lived in a closet, I’ve always been myself. My truth was always out there. The idea that people like me are being told they can’t live their whole truth is frightening to me.”
But bringing historical documentation into the experience isn’t the only way in which “Chanteuse” is a multimedia project — it’s also musical, with a score written by award-winning composer and arranger David Legg. “The music serves almost as a spoonful of sugar: It helps the information go down easier,” Palmer said.
Stylistically, the score implements melodic and harmonic elements of both early-‘30s-era jazz and traditional European Jewish music. The instrumentation (piano, tenor saxophone, percussion and upright bass) was chosen by Legg in order to facilitate this evocative musical landscape. “We ended up putting an underscore through the entire piece,” Palmer said. “It created a continuity, so you never feel it’s disjointed — dialogue, song, dialogue, song — the audience is never shocked out of the world we’re creating.”
And yet, Palmer insists that his created world is very relevant to the one we’re living in today. While it may seem unimaginable for something as horrifying as the Holocaust to repeat itself, Palmer said he and his co-creators want to remind audiences of the current trends towards authoritarianism around the world as they watch Werner navigate the terror of being gay in 1930s Berlin.
“Around the United States, we’re seeing more and more bans of drag performance, of gay media,” Palmer said. “And I think drag, like any other art form, is a way of storytelling. It isn’t anything people should be afraid of.”
“This is a moment in which it’s important to say, ‘We all need to work together,’” he added. “You know, if every persecuted group stood strong together, we’d be surprised at how quickly things would turn around in a positive way.”
“Chanteuse” is being performed at Here Arts Center (145 Sixth Ave.) on Tuesdays through Saturdays through July 30. For tickets and additional info, click here. In order to allow broader access to the musical, 10 tickets priced at $10 are available for each performance on a first come, first served basis.
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The post A new musical spotlights the Nazi persecution of LGBTQ+ people appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Six US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week requesting that he increase security measures along the northern border in response to Canada accepting an influx of refugees from Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the terrorist group Hamas.
The six Republican lawmakers — Sens. Marco Rubio (FL), Ted Cruz (TX), Joni Ernst (IA), Tom Cotton (AK), Mike Braun (IN), and Josh Hawley (MO) — said they were “deeply concerned” that refugees from Gaza could sneak into the United States. The senators warned that allowing unvetted Palestinian refugees to cross the border poses a serious national security threat.
“On May 27, 2024, the Government of Canada announced its intent to increase the number of Gazans who will be allowed into their country under temporary special measures,” the senators wrote. “We are deeply concerned and request heightened scrutiny by the US Department of Homeland Security should any of them attempt to enter the United States at ports of entry as well as between ports of entry.”
After arriving in Canada, the Palestinian refugees will be given a “Refugee Travel Document,” which serves as a valid form of identification, the letter claimed, adding that US Citizenship and Immigration Services recognizes these documents as a valid substitute for a passport. The senators warned that “individuals with ties to terrorist groups” could potentially enter into the United States.
The letter argued that the US should maintain “common-sense terrorist screening and vetting” for any individual attempting to enter its borders from a foreign country. The lawmakers lamented that the Biden administration’s “”ax border enforcement” has rendered the country vulnerable to potential terrorist attacks. From April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations intercepted over 233 suspected terrorists at the northern border, according to the letter.
“[T]he possibility of terrorists crossing the US-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,” the senators wrote. “It would be irresponsible for the US to not take necessary heightened precautions when foreigners attempt to enter the United States.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre of 1,200 people across southern Israel. The Palestinian terrorist group also kidnapped over 250 hostages.
In response, Israel launched defensive military operations in Gaza with the aim of freeing the hostages and permanently dislodging Hamas from the neighboring enclave.
The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the West Bank, still support Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel that started the ongoing war, and they would prefer a “day after” scenario in which Hamas remains in control of Gaza rather than the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the West Bank, or other Arab countries, according to recent Palestinian polling. The same polling found that, when asked about support for Palestinian political parties and movements, a plurality chose Hamas.
US lawmakers are split along party lines as to whether the United States should accept refugees from Gaza. Republicans are largely opposed to importing refugees from Gaza, arguing that individuals from the war-torn enclave present “a national security risk” to the United States.” In May, Ernst and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent US President Joe Biden a letter, urging him not to accept any refugees from Gaza.
In June, however, a group of 70 Democratic lawmakers sent Mayorkas a letter, requesting he create “pathways” for more refugees of the Israel-Hamas war to resettle in America.
The post US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin
Screenshot of a widely circulated video published on social media showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel. According to reports, the video appears to be fake and of Russian origin.
A widely circulated video published on social media this week showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel appears to be fake and of Russian origin, according to reports.
The video — published on Tuesday on social media networks including X/Twitter and Telegram — featured a keffiyeh-clad man with his face covered, delivering an Arabic-language address threatening France with violence due to the country’s alleged support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Addressing “the people of France” and “French President [Emmanuel] Macron,” the masked individual said, “You supported the Zionist regime in its criminal war against the people of Palestine. You provided Zionists with weapons; you helped murder our brothers and sisters, our children.”
“You invited the Zionists to the Olympic games. You will pay for what you have done!” continued the man, who wore a shirt adorned with a Palestinian flag. “Rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris. This day is approaching, God willing. Allah is the greatest.”
The video, published on X/Twitter by the account @endzionism24 and retweeted by Palestinian activist Ihab Hassan, ended with the speaker holding a prop severed head complete with fake blood up for the camera.
He is not a Palestinian:
A video clip has surfaced showing an individual wearing a keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag badge, threatening France with a “river of blood” at the Olympic Games.
It is glaringly obvious to any Arabic speaker that this person is not Arab; his dialect… pic.twitter.com/rwWGkkbiAi
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 23, 2024
Hassan and other social media users immediately noted that the man speaking was clearly not a native Arabic speaker, citing his reasonably fluent but awkward and occasionally incorrect pronunciation.
Many social media users aware of the mispronunciations seemed to blame Israel for the video, implying the clip was a false flag meant to fearmonger and demonize Palestinians and Muslims. They did not address the fact that Israel has access to hundreds of thousands of native Palestinian Arabic speakers who would sound far more convincing than the man in the video.
On Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that “French secret services and their partners have not been able to authenticate the veracity of this video.”
According to researchers at Microsoft, however, the video appears to be part of a Russian-linked disinformation campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics, which began with the opening ceremony on Friday.
The researchers from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center told NBC News that the clip appears to have come from a Russian disinformation group known as Storm-1516, an outgrowth of Russia’s Internet Research Agency.
The latest clip was linked to a similar disinformation video falsely alleging that Ukraine had sent arms to Hamas — a claim for which there is no evidence. According to the researchers, the more recent video appears to be part of a Russian scare campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics.
The video came just days before France’s rail infrastructure was hit on Friday, ahead of the start of the Olympics, with widespread acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from the rest of France and Europe just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. French authorities described the acts as “criminal” and “malicious.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the sabotage of France’s high-speed rail network was directed by Iran, which Western intelligence agencies have for years labeled as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.
“The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam,” Katz wrote on X/Twitter. “As I warned my French counterpart [Stéphane Séjourné] this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians are planning terrorist attacks against the Israeli delegation and all Olympic participants. Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot. The free world must stop Iran now — before it’s too late.”
Katz was referring to a letter he sent on Thursday to Séjourné raising alarm bells about what he described as a plan by Iran to attack Israel’s Olympic delegation.
Darmanin and French National Police both announced previously that they are taking increased security measures to ensure the safety of Israel’s Olympic delegation while they are in Paris amid mounting threats. These measures include providing them with round the clock security from French police. The Israeli delegation will also receive additional security details from Israel’s Shin Bet security agency during the Olympics.
The post Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey
The editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the largest daily newspaper in Missouri, has endorsed the opponent of US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), pointing to the incumbent congresswoman’s lack of legislative accomplishments and stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Post-Dispatch argued that Bush’s position on Israel and the Gaza war should be “disqualifying” for any elected representative. The outlet took umbrage with Bush for equating a close democratic ally of the US with a genocidal terrorist organization.
“Israel’s conduct of the war has been far from perfect, but it remains a democracy fighting for survival against an evil terrorist organization. Bush’s tendency to equate both sides — and even to side with the terrorists, as when she cast one of just two House votes against a resolution to bar Hamas members from the US — should in itself be disqualifying for re-election,” the editorial board wrote.
Bush has established herself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the US Congress. Only nine days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, Bush called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group. As the war dragged on, Bush’s rhetoric toward Israel sharpened, with the congresswoman accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Bush has also accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza without providing evidence.
Bush seems more interested in pandering to the far-left fringes of the progressive movement than serving her constituents, the Post-Dispatch argued. Bush’s membership in “The Squad” — a clique of far-left progressive, anti-establishment lawmakers in the House of Representatives — has rendered her completely incapable of “accomplishing anything” in the halls of Congress, according to the newspaper.
The editorial board urged its readers to vote for Wesley Bell, pointing to his moderated approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example of his pragmatism and moral clarity.
“On Israel, Bell offers an appropriately measured stance, acknowledging the need to protect Gazan civilians and work toward a two-state solution, while supporting America’s closest ally in the Middle East,” the outlet wrote.
In contrast to Bush, Bell has expressed more sympathy to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, emphatically rejecting the notion that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.”
Moreover, Bell has strengthened his ties with the Jewish community over the course of his campaign. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, donated a reported $5 million to Bell’s campaign through its United Democracy Project super PAC. A group of 30 St. Louis-area rabbis penned a letter endorsing Bell, accusing Bush of a “lack of decency, disregard for history, and for intentionally fueling antisemitism and hatred.” Bell also brought about an official “director of Jewish outreach” to increase turnout among the Jewish community.
A poll commissioned by McLaughlin & Associates and sponsored by the CCA Action Fund, a pro-Bell super PAC, showed Bell with a commanding 56 percent to 33 percent lead over Bush.
Supporters of Israel see the primary race as a prime opportunity to oust another opponent of the Jewish state from the halls of Congress. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a progressive lawmaker, lost his primary race to a pro-Israel challenger on June 25. Over the course of his reelection campaign, Bowman accused Israel of committing “genocide” and enacting “apartheid” against Palestinians. Bowman’s comments incensed Jewish constituents in the leafy suburbs of Westchester County, New York.
Furthermore, observers are looking to the race as a potential indicator of the Democratic electorate’s position on Israel. Opinions of the Jewish state among Democrats have soured in the months following Oct. 7, calling into question whether anti-Israel views are still a liability with American liberals.
The post Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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