Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-Examined Hitler

Daniel Yaiullo (center), Zack Calhoon (right) (Photo: Ben Hider)

By Fern Siegel (posted 2/7/26)

There is a price to pay when you speak truth to power. And none more horrible than the fate of Hans Litten, a lawyer who called Adolf Hitler to the witness stand in 1931 to prove his credo of political violence. The case, the Eden Dance Palace trial, involved four Nazi storm troopers who claimed to be attacked by the very people they had assaulted. The legal confrontation was bold and unprecedented.

Litten (an excellent Daniel Yaiullo) won his case — but ultimately lost his life.

The true story, played out in Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-Examined Hitler, is little known but essential to tell. Now off-Broadway on Theater Row, Douglas Lackey’s drama is smart, dramatic and terrifying. And for 21st-century audiences, its relevance to today’s embrace of authoritarianism and fascism is chilling.

The play moves from Litten’s family home in Königsberg to his law office, where he represents workers and communists assailed by the state. Litten is not an ideologue, left or right. He is devoted to the rule of law, though the newspapers dub him “that Commie-loving Jew Litten.” Initially, Litten insists Germans are too educated and devoted to order to support a maniac like Hitler (Calhoon). But as democratic norms are destroyed, Jews and immigrants attacked and political enemies targeted, Litten’s law partner (Dave Stishan) warns him of impending doom.

That makes the Berlin courtroom scene all the more compelling — a demonstration of rare principle in the face of political cruelty and hypocrisy. The brutal reality of Nazi concentration camps is equally unnerving — the consequences of one-party rule as hatred is transformed into government policy.

What stands out in Lackey’s play is Litten’s intellect and moral courage. Here is a man devoted to art history, Mozart and Rilke’s poetry. His final decision, after years in concentration camps, “to join my people at Masada,” is delivered in a stunning, deeply emotional performance by Yaiullo, who perfectly embodies a man for whom the ideals of justice are the highest calling.

Hans Litten is also a portrait of the contradictions of German Jewish life. Litten’s imperious father (Stan Buturla), a nationalist and WWI vet, is an esteemed law professor. He knew he could not ascend the higher levels of his profession without eventual conversion, a move Hans, the grandson of a rabbi, deems “opportunistic.” Barbara McCulloh as his loving Christian mother, visits her son in prison and witnessing his torture, desperately trying to use all family connections, in Germany and abroad, to free him. Their scenes together are heartbreaking.

The rest of the first-rate supporting cast, who portray various roles, includes Robert Ierardi, Whit K. Lee, Marco Torriani and Mark Eugene Vaughn.

Lackey, a professor of philosophy at Baruch College and CUNY, has chosen an apt subject for review. The results of the Nazi Party’s electoral victory in 1932 and its intense propaganda cannot be overstated. Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933 by Hindenburg and began dismantling democratic institutions. A year later, he declared himself Führer.

The years of Litten’s struggles, 1924-1938, encapsulate key moments in German history, setting the stage for WWII and the Holocaust. They have no cause to arrest me, he tells his partner, as I’ve broken no laws. But law is capricious in the hands of dictators. The civilized are never immune from tyranny. Litten is a reminder of how remarkable heroism can be.  

The show is skillfully directed by Alexander Harrington, aided by Alex Roe’s realistic set design, period costumes by Anthony Paul-Cavaretta and dramatic lighting by Alexander Bartenieff. Music director Jessica Crandall has selected Mozart, Brecht and Weill, as well as traditional Jewish and German folk anthems, to capture the period and sensibilities of the characters. The production is deftly presented.

Hans Litten should be required viewing for all audiences, especially New York’s schoolchildren and Washington politicians, who need solid grounding in history. This show is a battle cry for remembrance and justice. A call all should heed.