WARREN, Ohio – “Block 5,” a powerful Holocaust play written by J.E.Ballantyne Jr. of Youngstown, received critical acclaim when it was performed on local stages in 2005 and 2010.
The play, which is based on a true story, will soon get new life as it is being reworked into a book to be titled “The Mauthausen 7.”
A release date has not yet been set.
Ballantyne is announcing it in conjunction with Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is Jan. 27.
The book will tell the story of a little-known incident that took place at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria in late 1943. The inhumane camp was run by the Nazi military during World War II.
It looks in on seven Jewish prisoners who were mysteriously the only inhabitants in the Block 5 building at Mauthausen. All of the other blocks held hundreds of prisoners.
The situation becomes even more curious when a captured British lieutenant is added to Block 5.
Ballantyne said “The Mauthausen 7” book will explore more about the incident than the stage version could. He believes it will reach a new and larger audience.
The written words will explore emotions and thoughts that were difficult to establish in a stage production, he said. In addition, information concerning camp conditions can be dealt with that would have been difficult to convey on stage.
Although “The Mauthausen 7” is a fictionalized version of actual events, all of the key elements are included, according to the author. He described it as a story of hope and survival.
The play premiered at the Oakland Center for the Arts in 2005 and was revived at the Victorian Players in 2010. Both productions featured the area’s top actors. They received critical acclaim, garnering 14 Marquee Awards for local theater excellence.
Ballantyne said the book can be used as an educational tool for adults and students. Numerous schools sent students to “Block 5” performances and found them to be beneficial, he noted.
The Jan. 3 death of Ballantyne’s friend Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor who was internationally renowned, adds new importance to retelling the story, the author said.
“With the recent passing of Eva Schloss, who was Anne Frank’s stepsister, there are relatively few Holocaust survivors remaining,” he said. “These stories must be kept alive.”
Schloss attended a production of “Block 5” at Victorian Players. Her father and brother were held at Mauthausen and died there, but they are not part of the “Block 5” story.
“The Mauthausen 7” will be available to purchase on Amazon and at JEBBooks.com, which also offers other books and theater scripts written by Ballantyne.
The author last year retired from theater production after a long career and is now concentrating solely on writing. He remains the archivist at the Youngstown Playhouse and a theater critic for The Business Journal.
Pictured at top: Tom O’Donnell, John Pecano and Alan McCreary in a scene from the 2010 production of “Block 5” at Victorian Players Theatre (today known as the Hopewell Theatre).