His father is an alcoholic and his mother is unable to provide for the family: As a child, Friedrich Zawrel (1929 – 2015) is first put into a home and then ends up in Spiegelgrund, the notorious “child specialist institution” of the German Reich in Vienna, where euthanasia killings of sick and disabled children were committed. Dr Gross, the resident physician, classifies Zawrel as “genetically and socially inferior” and tortures him with medical experiments. But one day, Zawrel manages to escape the institution with the help of a nurse. He lives on the streets as a teenager and makes a living as a petty criminal in post-war Vienna. Due to this career, he is repeatedly thrown into jail and examined by psychiatric evaluators. Finally, he finds himself face to face with his former tormentor who offers him a deal. But Zawrel cannot be bribed. It isn’t until the year 2000 that there is finally a trial, which is abandoned due to Gross’ alleged dementia. He simply can’t remember anything…

Nikolaus Habjan and Simon Meusburger created this puppetry performance on the basis of a true story: Until his death at a venerable age in 2015, Friedrich Zawrel, this amiable, humorous and resilient Viennese man, told the story of what he went through to school classes and at other occasions.

The result is a dramatic, moving and theatrically captivating piece of remembrance work. The production received the 2012 Nestroy-Prize in the category of Best Off-Production; Nikolaus Habjan has performed it more than 600 times to date. Friedrich Zawrel is very much alive in Nikolaus Habjan’s moving mouth puppet.