In his most well-known*, Nike Literary Award-winning and most frequently staged play, Słobodzianek explores Polish-Jewish relations. Our Class, however, doesn't so much attempt to join the dispute among historians, politicians and publicists about Polish antisemitism and the Jedwabne pogrom. Instead, he addresses what these discussions usually have no room for: the individuals affected by, as Leonard Neuger described it, “the curse of fate.”
The history of Polish and Jewish students at a school in a village near Łomża spans several decades, beginning in pre-war period and ending in the present day. The carefree nature of the first “Lesson,” as the author refers to parts of the play, however, is supplanted by divisions, prejudice, hatred and violence as the occupation begins. A classmate reports his desk neighbour (an underground resistance fighter) to the NKVD, who, in retaliation, tortures him to death. To the villagers, the Jews are no longer Neighbours (the title of the book written by Jan T. Gross, which, among others, the author was inspired by), but rather Communists and traitors. Tensions culminate in horrific and brutal portrayals of the pogrom: the humiliation and beatings of Jews at the town square, the rape of a Jewish classmate, and ultimately, the burning alive in the barn of all the remaining survivors.
Although most people would easily recognize the Jedwabne pogrom in these scenes, Słobodzianek does not directly refer to the massacre from 1941. This significant detail reveals the author's intentions, as he seems to distance himself from historical settlements and recognitions, making the play more universal and still relevant today. The author is not concerned with issues of blame, accusations, nor does he create his version of the great historical narrative. Instead of presenting antisemitism as the shameful truth of the Polish nation, Słobodzianek provides the viewer with a portrayal of antisemitism that, as Paulina Małochleb describes, “becomes a convenient means of bearing personal disputes, concealing feelings of inferiority, rejected affection, belittled self-love”.
The author presents “the damned fate” of the students of Our Class forever bound whether by friendship or hatred, trauma and grief to the audience. The complementary testimonies of the characters are interwoven with the re-enactment of events on stage. The plot is, therefore, presented in the form of flashbacks because, as can be inferred from the list of Persons, all the characters in the play are already dead. In Słobodzianek's drama, the characters can't break free from the past. Some, like Rachelka, who was re-baptized as Marianna, a Jewish woman who survived the massacre, seek oblivion in their old age, drowning out the voice of trauma with a never-ending TV broadcasts. Others, like Menachem, seek solace in revenge, turning from victim to executioner, or, like Heniek, trying to redeem guilt through priestly service.
The strength of Our Class, however, does not lie in the depiction of credible life stories of the characters in the tragedy. Somewhere between one fractured life and another, among the desires, delusions, disappointments and pain experienced by the characters, lies a disturbing realization: this is also our class, our tragic fates, our faults, and hatred. One can never leave this class, and the stories of its students have been irrevocably intertwined.
Through his characters' voices, the author also describes his own experience of the tragic history of Polish-Jewish relations, or perhaps hatred and prejudice in general. This is by no means a narcissistic act; Słobodzianek, it seems, is rather trying to invite the audience to emotional work, which nowadays may be more important than the endless disputes among historians. It’s a form of work that, much like the play, instead of providing answers and constructing a coherent narrative of the past, creates even more questions instead.