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The Kreisau Project centers on scripts of two plays that tell powerful stories of individual resistance to the Nazis—Karski and A Journey to Kreisau —by the late playwright, Marc P. Smith, that tell powerful stories of individual resistance to the Nazis.

Karski presents the riveting story of Polish Resistance hero, Jan Karski, who joined the Polish Underground Army at the outset of the German occupation of his country. With breathtaking courage, he pursued his mission to find out what was happening to the disappearing Jews in Poland and to report in person the horrifying events he had witnessed to the Polish government in exile in London and to Western leaders in the UK and in the US. He remained in the US, teaching at Georgetown University. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

A Journey to Kreisau takes audiences on the emotional journey of moral courage by a young German couple, Helmuth James and Freya von Moltke. They were at the center of a resistance effort that included several meetings of a small group at the von Moltke estate in Kreisau (Eastern Germany) to make plans for a post-Hitler world encompassing a democratic Germany within a democratic Europe. The estate is now in Poland and called Krzyzowa. It serves as a center for the study of democratic values and facilitates European integration.

For quotes about the plays, visit the Resources section of our website.

Scripts for these two plays are available to educators via the Kreisau Project website. When used for classroom study purposes, there is no fee for the use of these scripts (see their Letter of Agreement).