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Victor Frankl: Synchronisation in Birkenwald –
A Metaphysical Conference

Jan Kühne

In 1946, Viktor Frankl, renowned author of Man’s Search for Meaning,
wrote his only theatre play, titled: Synchronisation in Birkenwald – A
Metaphysical Conference. It is among the first plays - if not the first one
– to be written about the Shoah after the Shoah, in the German language.
It dramatises Frankl’s own experience as a survivor in several German
concentration and annihilation camps. Its original plot and – in the
context of dramatic Holocaust literature – pioneering meta-theatrical
aesthetic, precede later developments in this genre by over thirty years.
However, so far it has been unknown, especially in Israel, where Frankl is
counted among the seminal authors of its pedagogic canon. For the first
time, his play is presented here in an annotated Hebrew translation by
david Gutman and Jan Kühne, together with an afterword about its
genesis and reception. The afterword is based on academic and artistic
research, and includes archival documents, especially by Frankl himself,
that allow for a broader contextualisation and deeper understanding of his
extraordinary play.
Synchronisation in Birkenwald tells the story of Frankl’s psychological
survival in the aftermath of the brutal death of his entire family. By
means of irony, the play is not only a moving and unconventional
testimony for the Shoah, but also for the struggle of its author to create
meaning out of a personal crisis and senselessness, which remains neither
limited to himself, nor to the Jewish genocide. With this play, Frankl
sought to benefit his audience by way of ’therapeutic humanism’, if you
will. His painstaking questions about the ethical responsibilities of
remaining human in times of radicalisation, discrimination, persecution,
militarization, and genocide are relevant to this day. Last but not least,
Synchronisation in Birkenwald is an inspiring document of resistance
against fascism, which supplements the repertoire of Shoah plays and
prose by writers such as Primo Levi, Jean Améry, Nelly Sachs, Joshua
Sobol, and Chanoch Levin.

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