The Jewish author and theater director George Tabori died in Berlin. He died Monday at the age of 93.
Tabori was known as an incisive critic of German society who challenged anti-Semitism and underscored what he considered the absurdity of Hitler and Nazism.
Born in Budapest, Tabori moved to Berlin but left for London in 1933 after the Nazis came to power. There he joined his older bother, Paul, and worked for the BBC. Their father was murdered in Auschwitz. Their mother escaped deportation; her story became the subject of George Tabori’s 1979 book and later film, “Mother’s Courage.”
Tabori moved to the United States, working as a screenwriter and translator of German literature into English, notably, the works of Berthold Brecht and Max Frisch. Among his credits is the screenplay for Hitchcock’s 1953 movie “I Confess.”
In 1971, Tabori returned to Germany and focused on theater work. His 1987 play “Mein Kampf” pointed out the absurdity of Hitler through portraying the dictator’s early years living in a flop house in Vienna.
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