• Millions of people made a pilgrimage to the Black Hills to see a reenactment of the last days of Christ.
• The Black Hills Passion Play was a community staple in Spearfish for almost 70 years.  The passion refers to the suffering, death and resurrection in the final week of Jesus' life.
• Josef Meier was 24 when he arrived in New York from Germany in 1932 with a company of actors and the dream of keeping the tradition of the Passion Play alive.
• Passion plays originated in Europe during the Middle Ages as a way of teaching the populace, who could neither read nor write, about Christianity. In Luenen, Germany, where Meier grew up, the tradition of presenting an annual Lenten season play was said to date back to 1242. Monks originally presented the play for townspeople, but as the years passed, community members took over parts played by clergy. Six members of Meier's family portrayed the Christus (German for Christ) before he took the lead role. As Adolph Hitler began consolidating his power, a small theater group left Germany to tour

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