We Will Never Die - Holocaust Dramatic Pageant - Ben Hecht & Kurt Weill

We Will Never Die, a dramatic pageant dedicated to the 2 million Civilian Jewish Dead of Europe staged before an audience of 40,000 at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 1943, to raise public awareness of the ongoing mass murder of Europe's Jews. It was organized and written by screenwriter and author Ben Hecht and produced by Billy Rose and Ernst Lubitsch. The musical score was composed by Kurt Weill (1900–1950), and staged by Moss Hart (1904–1961), a leading Broadway producer. The pageant starred Edward G. Robinson, Edward Arnold, John Garfield, Sam Levene, Paul Stewart, Sylvia Sidney and Paul Muni and subsequently traveled to other cities nationwide.

"Out of frustration over American policy and outrage at Hollywood's fear of offending its European markets," screenwriter and author Ben Hecht, in January 1942, held a dinner with numerous Jewish writers and others in the arts to focus attention on the plight of Europe's Jewish population, then being decimated by Germany's Nazis. Composer Kurt Weill and producer Moss Hart immediately volunteered to help in any way they could, with Weill stating, "Please count on me for everything."

They first tried to produce a show titled Fight for Freedom but gave up due to lack of funds. Finally, a pageant produced by Billy Rose and directed by Moss Hart titled We Will Never Die had two performances on March 9, 1943, in front of 40,000 spectators at Madison Square Garden. As part of the performances, "hundreds of voices were raised in prayer and song" to remind people about what was then happening to Europe's Jewish population, writes author Steven Bach. Two hundred rabbis and two hundred cantors invoked various prayers on stage. There were narrations and performances by Jewish stars, including Edward G. Robinson, Sam Levene, Paul Muni, Joan Leslie, Katina Paxinou, Sylvia Sidney, Edward Arnold, John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Jacob Ben-Ami, Blanche Yurka, J. Edward Bromberg, Akim Tamiroff, Roman Bohnen, Art Smith, Helene Thimig, Shimen Ruskin, Leo Bulgakov and John Garfield, and by non-Jewish stars such as Ralph Bellamy, Frank Sinatra and Burgess Meredith.

The show traveled on to Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on July 21, 1943. Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York declared a day of mourning for Jews murdered by the Nazis. However, despite the show's national success, its main organizer, Ben Hecht, "took little comfort" from the pageant. Weill told Hecht, "The pageant has accomplished nothing. Actually, all we have done is make a lot of Jews cry, which is not a unique accomplishment." Years later, in 1946, after the war ended, Hecht wrote the play A Flag is Born, to help promote the establishment of Israel for Europe's remaining Jews.

Originally Broadcast 7/4/1944
Hollywood Bowl

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