Female Fashion in 1930s Berlin

Although for most people the fashion of the 1930s was whatever materials they could gather and sew up for themselves (due to the sever economic strife that was rampant all around), there was a specific style and flair... here are some images of actresses and models from that time period.

*These images will be mostly helpful for Paulinka, perhaps Agnes and Gotchling too*

Finale of MAHLER's 2nd (Resurrection) Symphony

Conducted by the great Leonard Bernstein, the huge Choral flourish is for when Herr Swetts arrives on the scene, three piece suit and all:

Significance of Reichstag Fire

In historical terms the Reichstag Fire (which took place February 27, 1933) is seen as a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany. 

HOW HISTORY TELLS IT:

At 9:25pm, a Berlin fire station received an alarm call that the Reichstag building -- the assembly location of the German Parliament -- was ablaze. The fire started in the Session Chamber, and by the time the police and firefighters had arrived, the main Chamber of Deputies was engulfed by flames.

Adolf Hitler, who had been sworn in Chancellor of Germany four weeks before, urged President Paul van Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree in order to counter the "ruthless confrontation of the KPD. With civil liberties suspended, the government instituted mass arrests of Communists, including all of the Communist parliamentary delegates. With them gone, and their seats empty, the Nazis went from being a plurality party to the majority; subsequent elections confirmed this position and thus allowed Hitler to consolidate his power.

Meanwhile, investigation of the Reichstag fire continued, with the Nazis eager to uncover Comintern complicity. In early March 1933, three men were arrested who were to play pivotal roles during the Reichstag Fire Trial, which was helf in Leipzig, Germany.

Historians disagree as to whether van der Lubbe acted alone or if the Nazis were involved. The responsibility for the Reichstag fire remains an ongoing topic of debate and research.

Memories of You

Zillah's song at the top of Act II, most of the lyrics are the same

Die Internationale

The Internationale is a famous Socialist, Communist, Social-democratic and anarchist anthem and one of the most widely recognized songs in the world. The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism.

LYRICS:

Stand up, all victims of oppression,
For the tyrants fear your might!
Don't cling so hard to your possessions,
For you have nothing if you have no rights!
Let racist ignorance be ended,
For respect makes the empires fall!
Freedom is merely privilege extended,
Unless enjoyed by one and all.
  So come brothers and sisters,
  For the struggle carries on.
  The Internationale,
  Unites the world in song.
  So comrades, come rally,
  For this is the time and place!
  The international ideal,
  Unites the human race.

Let no one build walls to divide us,
Walls of hatred nor walls of stone.
Come greet the dawn and stand beside us,
We'll live together or we'll die alone.
In our world poisoned by exploitation,
Those who have taken, now they must give!
And end the vanity of nations,
We've but one Earth on which to live.
  So come brothers and sisters,
  For the struggle carries on.
  The Internationale,
  Unites the world in song.
  So comrades, come rally,
  For this is the time and place!
  The international ideal,
  Unites the human race.

on the creation of a research blog

Kushner's BRIGHT ROOM is a play chock-full of research, but we must not forget that the play is not intellectual discourse, but rather about the lives of these people, living in a time when politics are at the front of their mind and all they can talk about. These WORDS should become your friends, your tools, your weapons and maybe even your enemy on stage. 

Here is a list of pure definitions, some I will give more specific definitions that pertain to the time period:

Capitalism: Economic system in which property is privately owned and goods are privately produced.It is sometimes referred to as the private enterprise system.

Humanity: The quality of being humane; humane -- marked or motivated by concern with the alleviation of suffering

Parliamentary: in accord with rules and customs of a legislative or deliberative assembly; "parliamentary law"; relating to or having the nature of a parliament; "parliamentary reform"; "a parliamentary body"; parliament - Institution whose elected or appointed members meet to debate the major political issues of the day and to exercise legislative powers, and in some cases executive or judicial powers also

Revolutionary: markedly new or introducing radical change; a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving; revolution - the overthrow of a government by those who are governed

Kaiserin: Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress"

Herr: a German man; used before the name as a title equivalent to Mr in English

Marx: German socialist of the mid-19th century; blasted earlier socialist movements as utopian; saw history as defined by class struggle between groups

Marxism: he body of philosophical, political, economic and sociological ideas associated with Karl Marx (1818-1883) and his life-long collaborator Frederick Engels (1820-1895); the social and political theories supported by Marx. These theories support a form of government called socialism in which either the people or the government administrates and owns everything, and in turn, unequally distributes the goods and pay according to work done.

Trotsky: Russian revolutionary and Communist theorist who helped Lenin and built up the army; he was ousted from the Communist Party by Stalin

Trotskyite: radicals who support Trotsky's theory that socialism must be established throughout the world by continuing revolution 

Comrade: Comrade means "friend", "colleague", or "ally", often with a military or left-wing political connotation; a fellow member of the Communist Party; brother: used as a term of address for those male persons engaged in the same movement

Communism: a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless society; a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership

Pernicious: baneful -- exceedingly harmful

Nazism: The ideology of Adolf Hitler's NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party), including a Führer's totalitarian government, racism, nationalist territorial expansion (Lebensraum) and state control of the (war) economy

KPD: The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands - "KPD")

Fascism

Antiseptic: freeing from error or corruption

Chancellor: the person who is head of state 

Proletariat: The class of modern wage laborers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live. The working class.

Stalin: Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953)

Weimar Coalition

Liberal

Reichstag: The Reichstag (German for "Imperial Diet") was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945.

Das Kapital: a book written by Karl Marx (1867) describing his economic theories

Agitprop: political propaganda (especially communist propaganda) communicated via art and literature and cinema

Deviationist: an ideological defector from the party line (especially from orthodox communism); In Stalinist Communism a deviationism is an expressed belief which is not in accordance with official party doctrine for the time and area.

Comintern: The Comintern (Communist International, also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow

Adventurism: the taking of excessive risks by a government in their political, economic or foreign affairs

Opportunism: taking advantage of opportunities without regard for the consequences for others 

"Left-deviationist adventurist opportunism"

SPD: The Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands — SPD)

United Front: Idea advocated by Leon Trotsky during the 1930's. In order to combat the rising tide of Nazism and fascism, Trotsky advocated an alliance of working-class parties in order to defend the working class from these attacks. However, due to many problems (most notably the Trotskyists being labeled as "social fascists" by the Stalinists during their program of the "Third Period"), the United Front was not successful in stopping the rise of fascism in Western Europe.

Dictatorship: A type of government where absolute sovereignty is allotted to an individual or a small clique; A government which exercises autocratic rule

Alliances:  a formal agreement establishing an association or alliance between nations or other groups to achieve a particular aim

paranoiac:  a person afflicted with paranoia 

Meteorology: the earth science dealing with phenomena of the atmosphere (especially weather) 

Calamity: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

Tyrant: a cruel and oppressive dictator

agrarian:  a social and political philosophy which stresses the viewpoint that the cultivation of plants, or farming leads to a fuller and happier life.

Exile: a person who is voluntarily absent from home or country; the act of expelling a person from their native land

agitate (for revolution): a state of agitation or turbulent change or development; to stir up public opinion

Emigration: migration from a place (especially migration from your native country in order to settle in another)

Silesian: Silesian or Upper Silesian (Silesian: Ślůnsko godka, Slezsky jazyk, Język śląski) is a Slavic language or dialect spoken in the region of Silesia; ost inhabitants of Silesia today speak the national languages of their respective countries (Polish, Czech, German)

Also found this cool website of "red vocabulary"  http://reds.linefeed.org/vocab.html