Irena’s Vow Review

As I descended to the BPAC theatre I was anticipating a great show. I loved the script of Irena’s Vow and I was anxious to see how the actors would bring it to life. The audience of the play was mostly students of Baruch College, and elderly people. I am wondering if this is because the middle aged generation are not interested in the Holocaust, or they just do not have time to attend performances like the elderly people do.
It is interesting how Irena goes from playing an old woman in her 70’s to playing a young woman around 20. She does this by first having her hair up in a bun, and then letting it loose. I might have thought that the director would want to have two different actors play her. However, Tova Feldshuh, who plays Irena, makes both parts seem plausible.

Irena is a young Polish woman who is a forced laborer during World War II. She is too weak to keep up with the original work the Nazi’s assign her. So, Rokita, who is her boss, tells her he will put her in charge of supervising the Jews working on the laundry. There, Irena meets Fanka, Ida, Lazar and 9 other Jews, and becomes friendly with them. Schultz, the German in charge of the laundry facility, whispers to Irena, “Do you know how one survives this sort of change in destiny? You look down. You look neither left nor right nor up nor even straight ahead…. You worry about you. You take care of you.”

Irena, a devout Christian, witnesses a heart-wrenching scene, and makes a vow to save as many Jews as she possibly can. With her extreme bravery, Irena manages to hide 12 Jews and a baby under the same roof as General Rugemer; the Nazi general Irena serves as maid. Although the tension rises at points in the drama there are several points of comic relief. “Would you like some schnapps and strudel? Rokita, have some!” This is a scene where Irena, chases away the Nazi General from the Jews hiding place by offering him some food. 

Irena’s Vow, has an emotional and happy ending with the reuniting of Irena and Roman, the baby she helped save. He takes her to Jerusalem, and the Israeli national anthem, Hatikva, is played. This reminds me of the end to the Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. In the museum, I walked through dark and gloomy depictions of the Holocaust, and the finale is a window overlooking the beautiful city of Jerusalem today. I felt like the play ended with the same emotional feeling that Jews came out of the Holocaust stronger than ever. This is one play that everyone should see, not just students who are required to and older people who went through the Holocaust.