Goodbye Marianne

Set in Germany in the days immediately following the Nazi-fostered Night of the Broken Glass (November 9, 1938), Goodbye Marianne is powerful theatre based on the author's childhood experience in Nazi Germany. Young Marianne Kohn arrives a few minutes late to school one morning to find that Jewish students are no longer permitted to attend. On her way home, she makes an unexpected friend, Ernst. When Ernst discovers Marianne is Jewish—and she finds that he belongs to the Hitler Youth—they quarrel bitterly, leaving Marianne with little hope for the friendship. Though Mrs. Kohn wants to shield and protect Marianne from the truth of the danger they are in, the time for honesty has come. She reveals to Marianne that her father is not away on business as Marianne has been led to believe. He is actually hiding from the Gestapo after escaping a Nazi prison camp where he was nearly beaten to death. Marianne's escape to Canada is arranged through the Kindertransporte underground rescue mission. As she leaves, Ernst gives her a gift that renews her hope for the future and helps her see that all people are not the same.