A spokesman for Habimah, Israel’s major theatrical company, said here last night that the company would seek immediate authorization from the Israel Film and Theater Censorship Board to present the play, “The Good Life, ” which was banned by the Board last week because the Belgian author of the drama, Felicien Marceau, had been accused of cooperating with the Nazis over a period of 15 years.
The Habimah spokesman said that the decision to go ahead with the presentation of the play was made because “Marceau was exonerated. ” He said that the decision was based on information furnished by the Israel Foreign Ministry.
In a report released last night, the Foreign Ministry said that Marceau had worked for the state radio and several newspapers during the German occupation of Belgium and fled to France after the Second World War. While he was tried in absentia in Belgium and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, the French authorities did not consider him a collaborator and granted him French citizenship.
The Foreign Ministry report noted that a general amnesty went into effect in Belgium in 1962 pardoning all but actual Nazi criminals and Marceau’s works have been performed since throughout Belgium.
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