A German Play’s Opening Night Offer: Wear A Swastika and Admission is Free

A new production of a play about a young Adolf Hitler‘s bid to break into the Vienna art scene is going in a pretty stunning direction with its promotional materials.

In an opening night deal which has garnered a great deal of criticism, audience members can gain admission to the play for free if they’re willing to wear a swastika inside; all else pay full price and wear the yellow Star of David which was used to identify Jews in fascist Germany.

The play, “Mein Kampf” by George Tabori, is running in Konstanz, Germany, and will open on April 20, the 129th anniversary of Hitler’s birthday.

“By breaking a taboo, one must bring back the debate,” Christoph Nix, who has run the City Theater of Konstanz for over a decade, told The New York Times.

It is illegal in Germany to produce or collect swastikas with the intent to disseminate them or for public use. But the swastikas in this production, which are all being collected at the end of the show, are protected by laws which safeguard freedom of artistic speech.

A local group which encourages interfaith dialogue wrote an open letter saying that the “bizarre marketing ploy” employed by the theater is “not acceptable.” Nix clarified that he never intended to offend any Jews with the promotion.

“We’re not talking about the actual piece, we are taking about the tastelessness around the admission,” Ruth Frenk, the head of the local German-Israeli Society chapter and a co-signer of the open letter, said. “I don’t think it will make the piece any better.”

[image via screengrab]