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Background history
A fragment of the script of the play entitled Żołnierz królowej Madagaskaru (The Soldier of the Queen of Madagascar) makes a unique memento of the theater performance, whose premiere took place in Oflag VI B Dössel on 21 May 1944. A copy of the 19th-century farce by Stanisław Dobrzański was found in the camp library. The author of the play was a comedy writer, translator of French plays and a director connected with Lvov. In 1936, the text was re-worked by Julian Tuwim and the new adaptation of the piece in the vaudeville style enjoyed immense popularity in the prewar Poland. The play tells the story of a shy lawyer – Saturnin Mazurkiewicz, who arrives in Warsaw from the provincial town of Radom. Here he intends to court Miss Sabina Lemięcka to eventually ask for her hand in marriage. The young woman, a charge in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Mącki, secretly falls for her guardians’ son – Władysław. Władzio Mącki, however, does not pay attention to the modest girl, since himself he is in love with Kamila – a cabaret diva. Still, upon Mr. and Mrs. Mącki’s request, Saturnin Mazurkiewicz, an attorney at law, steps behind the curtains of the little theater in his own person with the mission to save the youngster from the hands of the dangerous seducer. Unfortunately, the attorney himself succumbs to her charms on the spot. The performance was given upon the request form the POWs’ community, who demanded to be shown a play rendered in a lighter convention: playful and humorous. Thus the section of dramatic arts, operating in the oflag, chose Dobrzański’s farce to distract their mates and let them forget about the depressing camp reality. For the needs of the performance, which was directed by Lieutenant Ryszard Dmowski, an exceedingly beautiful stage set was prepared, costumes in style were sewn, modelled on the fashion of the end of the 19th century, as well as stage props were carefully executed. The vaudeville was acted out to the accompaniment of the superb camp orchestra. The main protagonist was played by Captain Emil Czapliński. The whole event, which was organized on a grand scale, brought a lot of joy to the camp audience, making them enjoy it immensely. On having watched the premiere, one of the officers recollected: “[…] Cpt. Emil Czapliński of the supplies section distinguished himself with his acting and perfect mastery of the actor’s craft as Mazurkiewicz, as well as Lieutenant Emil Woźniak, again with his excellently done woman’s part of Kamilka. Hot applause from the audience, roars of acclaim, an unending ovation gave great satisfaction to the actors and a thank-you for their effort […].” The Soldier of the Queen of Madagascar was staged seven times in the camp, each time played to a full house. In Oflag VI B Dössel, like in the other Wehrmacht-run POW camps, dynamic cultural activity was initiated and successfully developed with the permission from and under strict control of the German authorities. It effectively prevented social and psychological problems which arose in the conditions of isolation, which were part of the plan of psychic and physical destruction of POWs. The POWs’ theater occupied a special place in the camp life, helping the interned, at least for a short while, to forget about the dispiriting camp reality and bring hope for a better future. Such was the idea and the genesis of the theater functioning behind the wires, but also its power of influencing and the phenomenon of success. They made the theater the center of the cultural life in POW camps. It was created by both talented amateurs and professionals. And there were quite a few of them among the 450 thousand Polish soldiers who came to be caught up in the organized system of German POW camps during World War II.
Prepared by: Bartosz Janczak
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