Theatre performance "Empfänger unbekannt" - Never again National Socialism!

The support association of IGS Bonn-Beuel aims to help the school raise awareness among students about the dangers of National Socialism, given the current circumstances. To achieve this, the school plans to stage the play Empfänger unbekannt in the school auditorium for students from grade 10 onwards. In order to make the performance, scheduled for May 2025, possible, the school community relies on financial support. To cover the costs of the actors, technicians, their travel, accommodation, and catering, we aim to raise a donation sum of 5,000 euros. 

The play Empfänger unbekannt is based on a literary masterpiece. This masterpiece, titled Adressat unbekannt (Address Unknown), was first published in 1938 and remains frighteningly relevant today. Presented as an exchange of letters between a German and an American Jew during the months surrounding Hitler’s rise to power, the novel portrays in striking simplicity the dramatic breakdown of a friendship. 

"This modern story is perfection itself. It is the most powerful indictment of National Socialism that literature can offer."
— New York Times Book Review 

About the play: Max and Martin are close friends, but their friendship shatters when Martin aligns himself with the Nazis while Max, as a Jew in America, fears for his family. When Max’s sister Gisela suddenly disappears, he desperately asks Martin for help—but Martin refuses out of fear for his own safety. Feeling deeply betrayed, Max makes a fateful decision that changes everything. In the end, fate takes an unexpected turn for Martin, and a bond of friendship is transformed into betrayal and revenge. 

Actors Axel Pape and Rainer Appel have succeeded in transforming the novel into an extraordinarily moving yet simple stage play. The performance powerfully demonstrates how the poison of National Socialism seeps into a society and the horrific consequences that follow. It shows how a society can be infected and overtaken by the virus of a fascist system. 

Because the story is told in the form of a letter exchange, the audience experiences the events with both immediacy and clarity. The play builds an inescapable tension and ultimately takes an unexpected turn that leaves the audience speechless. 

Bringing this play to IGS Bonn-Beuel is an essential part of necessary political education. Please support us!