Underwater Cabaret at CRS Featured by I Love the Upper West Side
We’re honored to share that I Love the Upper West Side recently featured Congregation Rodeph Sholom and our upcoming program, Underwater Cabaret: The Story of a Holocaust Survivor, highlighting this powerful, one-night-only event coming to our community.
The article spotlights the extraordinary true story behind Underwater Cabaret, a rare and remarkable work created during the Holocaust by German Jewish lawyer Curt Bloch, who survived the Nazi occupation while hiding in the Netherlands. While living in constant danger, Bloch produced a handmade satirical magazine that used poetry, humor, and visual art to directly confront Nazi propaganda and document the realities of the war.
Between 1943 and 1945, Bloch created 95 issues of this secret publication while in hiding. The magazines — preserved against all odds — stand as a profound example of spiritual resistance, creativity, and moral courage in the face of unimaginable circumstances.
As the I Love the Upper West Side article notes, Underwater Cabaret will be presented at Congregation Rodeph Sholom by Bloch’s granddaughter, Simone Bloch, alongside designer and scholar Thilo von Debschitz, whose work helped bring these materials to light for contemporary audiences. This program marks the first English-language presentation of Underwater Cabaret in the United States.
We are proud to host this program as part of our commitment to meaningful Holocaust education, cultural memory, and community learning — especially as we approach International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Events like this invite us not only to remember history, but to reflect on the enduring power of art, voice, and resistance.
We invite our community and neighbors to join us for this important evening – register here.
You can read the full I Love the Upper West Side article here.
