Peter Weiss's The Investigation and its 1965 context

An exemplar of Holocaust literature, Peter Weiss’s The Investigation is also remarkable for its structure and style. Divesting himself of the need to subscribe to the standard three-act or five-act play, Weiss combines creative nonfiction with a self-conscious nod to Dante. The play is essentially a dramatic reenactment of actual war crimes trials referencing the concentration camps at Auschwitz. Also unlike a traditional play, there is no protagonist. The bulk of the action has already occurred—not just off stage but in reality; audience members know exactly what is being discussed and why. What makes The Investigation remarkable is the way the playwright blurs the line between theater and reality to expose the darkness in the human soul.

The opening scene sets the stage for the primary theme of personal accountability and responsibility, as the prosecutor asks pointed questions about how those complicit could not have known that they were sending people to their deaths. In the objective, procedural setting of a courtroom, there is little room for emotion—only rational judgment. Evidence in the trial is in the form of witness testimony, delivered coldly, underscoring the second primary theme of dehumanization. Dehumanization is also evident in the ways all the individuals remain unnamed. By doing this, Weiss refuses to allow any of the survivors to have individuality. The audience perceives them collectively, as a whole: just as the Nazis saw them. While it would seem ironic that Weiss would want to give the gift of individual recognition to the accused, it actually makes sense: Weiss wants the audience to hold these men individually accountable. They try as hard as they can to shirk responsibility by claiming they were only following orders and cannot therefore be held legally accountable for their actions. When they stand trial, though, they stand up as individuals. They cannot escape or hide from the fact that they made an individual moral choice.

Weiss blurs the line between reality and art by involving the audience on the journey through the different layers of the investigation. The audience is more than an audience to a play in The Investigation. In The Investigation, the audience becomes the jury in a trial. The initial few scenes present some general evidence related to the strategies used to transport the prisoners to the camp. As more and more testimony is given, the details become more and more gruesome including details of torture. Yet the accused discuss matters coldheartedly and with all the detachment required of their post. The witnesses—the survivors—humanize the stories but even they simply tell the judge what happened.