Holocaust-related archival films, such as propaganda films, amateur films, and documentary films are documents which provide uniquely revealing insight into pre-war Jewish life, the fate of the Jews during the Second World War, and, to some extent, their experience during its aftermath.
Compared to photography, film was a relatively new and less accessible medium in the 1930's and 1940's. Filming demanded, among other things, fairly expensive and sometimes cumbersome equipment, as well as an awareness of the importance and possibilities of the medium. A family could go to a photographer's studio and document its members without owning any equipment. Because amateur film makers1 had to be able to support their hobby financially, there is a relative scarcity of films in comparison to photographs from that time. Today, however, our somewhat over-visualised world demands an increasing number of filmed materials for use by directors, teachers, researchers etc. However, this demand is in many cases impossible to meet, since one cannot provide authentic filmed material depicting events, people and places that may never have been filmed.
The power of this medium can be demonstrated in the case of a film shot in a small town in Poland in the 1930's. This 16mm family film was donated a few years ago by Helen Glucksman and the Family of David Teitelbaum to Yad Vashem.2 David Teitelbaum, a private film maker who was born in Wielopole Skrzyńskie, Poland, in 1891, emigrated to the United States and became a successful businessman. He would return to his hometown almost every year to visit his family, and in 1938 (and possibly also in 1939), he filmed his trip. The footage, taken in that small town of around 1,200 people, about half of them Jews, features members of the Teitelbaum, Rappaport, and Sartoria families, along with their neighbours and acquaintances. Some individuals in the footage have been identified by relatives, mainly Channa Rachel (Helen) Glucksman, David's niece, who had arrived in the United States before the war.3
On July 2, 2013, Yad Vashem uploaded the film to YouTube under the title Rare Color Footage Depicting Jewish Life in the Shtetl Before the Holocaust.4 Four years later (July 3, 2017), it had been viewed 155,526 times. Though the film is in colour, which makes it rare and brings it closer to the viewer, it shows no important or unusual events. It is simply a private documentation of family life in a small shtetl. The large audience it was able to generate clearly demonstrates the power of this medium.
Films offer something that other forms of documentation cannot give – a dimension of movement and life, dynamic images of people, places and events, bringing us as close as possible to what truly transpired. In our experience, although they should be regarded in the same way as are other forms of historical documentation, these archival films are perceived, in many cases, as merely illustrative material, whose main purpose is to deliver a sense of what happened and to touch the viewer. This general trivialisation of the medium has led those who process this footage for viewing by the public to disregard the importance of honest and accurate representation to an extent rarely seen with other forms of historical documentation.
There are various reasons for the misuse of archival films. Factors such as high prices charged by bodies in possession of films, the hardship involved in obtaining access to materials due to the policies of the archives and other entities regarding research work on their premises, language barriers, films that have not been digitised and films not accessible for viewing – all of this has a profound impact on decisions made regarding the selection and treatment of footage. All of the above mentioned reasons, as well as a lack of interest and motivation to make an effort and use appropriate materials, lead to the improper use of archival footage, whether it is done by mistake, carelessness, or intention. On the other hand, recognition of the uniqueness and significance of these materials, as well as the growing use of these films, has increased these films’ importance in the eyes of the public and of scholars, and nowadays there is no doubt about their place in the study of the Holocaust.
Because of the distinctiveness of these materials, it is of particular importance that they be used correctly, for they are the documentary moving images of our visual memory of the Holocaust. Thus, each film must be approached with the same care afforded any other historical document; it should be viewed critically, and thoroughly checked before being catalogued and used.
These films supplement information provided by other forms of documentation and can also provide new information. Archival films contain many layers, each of which must be thoroughly examined. Comprehensive research can help us understand the motivations of the film maker and the ideology that drove him (it was usually a "him", according to what we know about these film makers). It is important to identify places that appear in a film (thereby creating the geographical frame), to date the film and to identify situations and people appearing within it in order to deepen historical knowledge and commemorate the victims. The more information available on a film, the greater its importance as a historical document.
It is our obligation as archivists to research these films thoroughly, and to present the films and our research to the public in the most accurate way possible. By treating the films responsibly, we can lay the groundwork for a more serious approach toward their use.
The Yad Vashem Film Archive collection consists mainly of filmed materials from before the war, which depict the vibrant Jewish life that was lost, archival films from the time of the war, and to some extent, its aftermath. Determining whether a film is to be treated as "pre-war" footage or as "Holocaust" material changes according to the film’s time frame and geography. Materials filmed in Germany after the rise of Nazism, documenting the persecution of Jews, are tagged as ''Holocaust'' footage, whilst films depicting Jewish persecution in other countries are considered as "pre-war" footage.
The films should be divided roughly into two categories: those taken by professionals and ordered by an establishment or an official body (a Ministry, a camp commander, etc.), and those taken by private individuals. The institutionally produced films are more homogenous in nature. This can be seen in the case of German newsreels from 1939 onwards, which treat Jews in a degrading manner similar to these issues’ treatment in the “documentaries” (declared as such by the creators). Films taken by private individuals differ from one another – each film has its own specific story.
When working with a filmed document, an archivist or a researcher should ask the following basic questions: Where and when was the film taken? Why was it filmed? Who was the film maker? Who initiated the filming? Was it ever screened? If so, what was its audience? Can we identify people who appear in the films?
The identity of the "initiator" of the film (either a private individual or the body who ordered it) is important as we try to understand the motivation of the initiator, the opportunities that he had to film, the subjects that interested him and his connection to the subjects filmed. The more information we have on the initiator, the better our position as we analyse the film. As stated above, Holocaust-era films can be grouped into those shot by official Nazi cameramen or ordered by an official entity mainly for use in anti-Jewish propaganda, and those shot by private individuals, for various reasons. Some of the private individuals who recorded Jews on film were professionals in the trade and naming them "amateur" (a customary term) is, therefore, sometimes inaccurate. They are therefore termed "private” film makers in this article, except for in cases in which we are certain that they were, indeed, amateurs. Such a private, non-amateur film maker was Horst Lörzer, a member of the propaganda companies (Propagandakompanie, abbr. PK), who most likely filmed with his own camera. There were also private film makers who documented their military units and fellow soldiers, and, on the way, Jews in towns through which they passed. Some recorded specific events, such as the Jews’ transfer to the Krakow Ghetto or deportation to the Kutno Ghetto. Some were sympathetic to their objects or seem to have had a generally neutral outlook, while others used their camera as a weapon, demanding that Jews pose for them, using their uniforms and the situation to humiliate and victimize their subjects. Most films taken during the Holocaust were not made by Jews. Determining the geographical and historical setting of each film is extremely important, as will be discussed. The question of screening is also of great importance: sending a filming crew, filming, directing scenes in some cases etc. demanded, among other things, planning, mobilization and finance. The fact that some films were made and even partly edited, yet never fully edited and presented to the public, raises questions regarding the intent behind the filming and the concept of the decision makers regarding propaganda against the Jews.
After determining the location, the other research questions we ask vary from one film to the other. In films from the Warsaw Ghetto, for instance, we will probably not try to identify people. In such a huge ghetto the chances of identifying anyone are slim. Sometimes we focus on identifying the situation being filmed, in other instances, our attention is centred upon the film maker.
The following examples demonstrate research work conducted on films, trying to establish their historical and geographical settings using various methods and tools.
We often receive archival films taken in an unidentified location or on an uncertain date, but even footage whose location or date are supposedly known must be examined critically. Such is the case of a film taken by Rudolf Bohlmann.6
According to his memoirs, Bohlmann, born August 29, 1898, in Greenland, was in charge of one of the ammunition factories in Warsaw which were under the Ministry of Aviation, from around July 1941 until August 19427. He writes that he had received permission from the governor to visit the ghetto and film there, and that he entered the ghetto on a day in March 1942. However, after thorough research, which included identification of various streets in which this film was taken, I am positive that Bohlmann entered the ghetto more than once: while some footage was shot from a tram in drier weather, other scenes were filmed on a cooler day (or days), with snow still piled on the ground. In these scenes, Bohlmann was no longer filming from the tram, but rather standing in the street among the ghetto inhabitants.
Thus, even information given by the film maker himself concerning either a place, a date, or a specific event must be questioned, since human memory might be deceptive, especially when the information is given years after the events occurred or by an individual other than the film maker himself.
In a German newsreel from September 14, 19398 there is a well-known sequence, which includes a shot of Jews on a truck and a shot of Jewish men standing in two lines. The German narration does not mention the name of the place, thus allowing for deceptive use of the footage:
Polnische Juden, die sich in vielen Fällen der Aufhetzung und Anstiftung zum Mord an Deutschen schuldig gemacht haben. Aus diesen Kreisen rekrutieren sich jene Schieber und Verbrecher, die nach 1918 das wehrlose Deutschland überschwemmten und von denen uns die Namen Barmat und Kutisker noch in lebhafter Erinnerung sind. Heute sitzen die Brüder und Söhne dieser Ostjuden in England und Frankreich und hetzen zum Vernichtungskrieg gegen das deutsche Volk" [Polish Jews, who have in many cases been complicit in the agitation and incitement to murder Germans. From these circles emerged those fraudsters and criminals who flooded defenseless Germany after 1918. Among them, the names Barmat and Kutisker are still in vivid memory. Today, the brothers and sons of these Eastern Jews sit in England and France and incite a war of extermination against the German nation].
A few years ago, while going over the Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities in search of clues regarding towns in which filming of Jews occurred, I found, under the entry "Wieruszów", a paragraph referring to the first days of the occupation. It stated that on the way to the train station the Germans abused a group of Jewish men and photographed (or filmed – the word in Hebrew does not distinguish between the two) their actions. In the station they picked up a group of around eighty Jewish men, wearing traditional clothes. These men were loaded onto trucks and taken first to nearby Kempno and then to Nuremberg (Dąbrowska and Abraham Wein 1976:100–101).
Checking the Wieruszów Memorial Book (Zelkowitz 1970), on pages 281 and 299, I found two photos depicting the aforementioned scenes appearing in the Wochenschau: one showing the men on a truck and one showing the men standing in two lines. The caption of the truck scene states that these are "Jews from Wieruszów on the way to Nürnberg 1939". Some of the men are identified by name, among them Leib Bornstein, who wrote that chapter in the Memorial Book, as well as Godil Szylit. In the other photo, where one sees the men standing in two lines, the caption describes these men as a group of prominent Jews captured by the Germans and taken into forced labour. The names of some of the victims are mentioned.
Unlike other instances in which these photos were wrongly presented, the fact that the men on the truck and in the lines have been identified by name means that the identification is correct and that the description in the Encyclopaedia refers to sequences from the Newsreel. In the Yad Vashem Photo Archive one can find photos taken during the filming of these scenes.9
After many hardships, these men managed to return home.
There are additional materials concerning some of these individuals. One of them is Godil Szylit. His shop is listed in the 1929 Polish Business Directory (Księga Adresowa Polski: 1004). In the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names there are Pages of Testimony commemorating him10, his daughter,11 and other members of his family. In the photo archive of the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum one can find an image of his daughters Leah and Hinda, and of Leah's daughter, taken in the Wieruszów Ghetto. The sisters have yellow badges sewn to the lapels of their coats.12
Thus, an archival film and photographs without a geographical context became visual evidence of the story of these 82 men from Wieruszów who were deported to Germany in the early days of the war.
Another film whose location was initially unknown – and was made, as far as we know, by an amateur film maker – depicts Jews wearing armbands in a town.13 At the beginning of the film the viewer sees road signs indicating the distance to various towns. The closest (legible) place was Odrzywół, situated 11 km from the road sign.
Another important clue was found at the end of the film, where one can see a church situated on the top of a hill.
After drawing a radius of 11 km on a map and searching the Internet for churches similar to the one seen at the end of the film, I established that this church stands in Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą. Judging from contemporary photos taken in Nowe Miasto available online, it is clear that the town’s market square is the one that appears in the footage.
The film maker documented street scenes and, mainly, Jews. He forced two Jews to pose for him, thereby exchanging the role of an objective film maker with that of a director, and, moreover, of a victimizer, thus revealing his racist preconceptions.
Another question that arose concerned the date of that film. The Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities (Dąbrowska and Abraham Wein 1976: 158) states:
Information about the creation of the ghetto varies. According to one testimony, the ghetto was established in 1940; the Jews were ordered to relocate to one small street, Targowa Street, in which only Poles had lived until then. According to other information, the ghetto was established in the spring of 1941 outside the city, and was surrounded by a fence.14
Using Google Maps and comparing the street views appearing in the film with contemporary street views, it became clear that at least some of the scenes depicted in the film can be identified as having taken place on Targowa Street:
According to the Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities, Jews did not reside in Targowa Street before the establishment of the Ghetto. Due to the fact that we see many Jews in different parts of the street, I assume that this footage was taken in the ghetto of Nowe Miasto. If that assumption is correct, then that film is even more exceptional, since very few films were taken inside ghettos, especially in small ones. The footage can also help to corroborate the fact that the ghetto was in Targowa Street, rather than in another location. That research can, therefore, add important information regarding ghettoization in general, and the fate of the Jews in Nowe Miasto in particular. It can also assist in dating the film: we see Jews and non-Jews in the streets. The ghetto was sealed in April 1941.15 It is therefore reasonable to assume that the film was made prior to this date. Judging from the apparent weather conditions and from the people's clothes, I would suggest dating it to the summer or autumn of 1940, with the necessary caution.
A film entitled Der Jude in Regierungsbezirk Zichenau ca. 1940 (The Jew in the Ciechanów District around 1940) was made in 1940 by Horst Lörzer, a member of the propaganda troops (PK), who probably took the footage with his own camera.16 The town shown in the film has been identified in various archives as Ciechanów; however, the title refers to the district of Ciechanów, not necessarily to the town itself. Research, therefore, needed to be conducted in order to clarify whether the location of the film was indeed the town of Ciechanów.
Appearing in the footage are signs hanging above shops, advertising a hatter called Hersz Pokorski, a grocer named Hersch Mendel Dancygier, a shoemaker named Szymon Fater and the tailor Chaim Grinberg.
These shop signs provided a vital basis for the investigation of the film’s location.
A search of the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names revealed only the name Pokorski. A Page of Testimony submitted by his sister states that Pokorski, a hatter, was born and lived in Płońsk, a town in the Ciechanów district.17 This information was the first indication that the filmed town could be Płońsk. The questions that then arose were whether any other sources could corroborate this identification, and whether the entirety of the footage was filmed in Płońsk or in other places as well.
In the Płońsk business directory from 1929 (Księga Adresowa Polski: 2020) Pokorski was listed as a manufacturer of caps. His father, Yisrael Nakhman, was also listed as a resident of Płońsk in records from the 19th century. This information alone was not enough to establish a true identification of the town; however, H. Dancygier was found listed in the Płońsk business directory (Księga Adresowa Polski 1929: 2021) and the Memorial Book of Płońsk and Vicinity (Zemah: 1963), lists Dancygier (ibid: 695) and the Pokorski family (ibid: 706) as residents of the town who perished in the Holocaust. These sources provided enough evidence to establish the identification of the film’s location as Płońsk.
The film reflects Lörzer’s racist attitude towards the Jews. In one scene, he presents "Jewish physiognomy" in the same manner as did Nazi propaganda of the time.
Comparing the face of the woman seen in that sequence with a photo added to a Page of Testimony, suggests that she could possibly be identified as Rachel Warszawer, who was born in Płońsk in 1908 and perished in the Holocaust.18
The Pages of Testimony again proved their value when the last scene of the film, which takes place at the town's cemetery, was examined. One of the headstones bears an engraving: "Esther, wife of Benyamin Jakobowicz". Esther Jakobowicz passed away before the war, but a search for her name in The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names revealed that her son, Eliyahu, as well as his wife and children, all perished in the Holocaust. Płońsk was listed as the town in which the family had lived.19
That discovery was the final piece in the puzzle needed to clarify the town’s identity beyond doubt.
The subject of another investigation was an unfinished propaganda film, likely taken in 1942, which is catalogued in various Archives as Jews in Dombrowa, Poland.20 I assume that this name is based on a sign affixed to what appears to be a "Chevra Kadisha"(burial society) wagon, which states that it belongs to the community of Dąbrowa.
The questions that arose were: is this film indeed from Dąbrowa? If not, is it from nearby Będzin? After identifying the town, the next step would be to attempt to identify people and places.
Identifications were made with the help of survivors. The most fruitful meetings were those held with survivors in the offices of the Zaglebie World Organization in Tel Aviv in 2006, as well as two interviews conducted with the late Mrs. Esther Nir. Also helpful in the effort to identify people in the film, as well as the film’s location, were a collection of portraits from Będzin, as well as additional photographs and other sources, such as lists of residents from the town.
Following this research, my conclusion is that this footage is primarily from Będzin. Some of the information discovered that support this argument are:
Three young men who appear in the film were identified as inhabitants of Będzin at the meeting in the offices of the Zaglebie World Organization: Rubin Piekarski, Moniek Frajnd, and a third individual, whose name was forgotten by the witnesses.
Moniek Frajnd was identified by name, and even his address was mentioned –
3 Maja Street number 10. The name "Frajn Tobiasz Manes", apparently Moniek Frajnd, appears in a list of Będzin inhabitants.21
A street seen in the sequence, situated perpendicular to the street in which the people are standing, was identified by survivors as Kołłątaja Street.
If this identification is correct, then the door seen in the sequence belongs to a workshop owned by Alfred Rossner, which was located on Kołłątaja Street number 45. Alfred Rossner was born in Oelsnitz in 1906, and grew up in nearby Falkenstein. In the years before the war he worked at a Berlin textile plant owned by Arie Ferleiger, a Polish Jew. He was exempted from army service due to health problems. Approximately eight months after the German invasion of Poland, Rossner arrived in Będzin, a noted textile manufacturing centre, where Jews comprised some 80 percent of the town’s population. The German authorities appointed German Treuhänder (trustees) to take over the management of plants that had been confiscated from Jews. These trustees continued to employ Jewish workers and relied on the expertise of the former Jewish owners. Before long, Rossner, who had excellent connections to both the German authorities and to local Jewish experts – among them Ferleiger, who had settled in Będzin after his expulsion from Germany in 1938 – became the largest employer in Będzin. He had thousands of Jewish employees.
In time, the Rossner special blue work permit became a much-coveted possession, as it provided a measure of insurance against deportation for its recipient and for two members of his/her family. From the outset Rossner stood out among other German trustees by virtue of the kind and humane treatment that he exhibited toward the Jews under his command. His closest workers, among them Ferleiger and Tropauer and members of their families, enjoyed his special protection. He also helped saving the lives of other Jews. Following the final liquidation of the ghetto, the situation of Rossner and his workers became more precarious. In December 1943, Rossner was arrested by the Gestapo, and hanged one month later. The nature of the charges that were brought against him is not clear, but there is little doubt that his help toward Jews figured prominently in them. In September 1995 Yad Vashem recognized Rossner as Righteous among the Nations.22
Esther Nir identified her brother, Avraham Tropauer, in a window above the entrance to Rossner’s workshop. Nir was born in 1926 in Plauen, Germany. Being of Polish origin the family had to emigrate to Poland. They settled in Będzin.
Tropauer worked exclusively in Rossner's workshop in Kołłątaja Street. This corroborates the identification of the location.
Rubin Piekarski stated in his testimony that he worked in a workshop owned by Alfred Rossner from January 1941.23 Although he does not state which workshop, the fact that he was identified in that specific location, indicates that he indeed had worked there.
Two further individuals were identified in the film (figure 18): Mates Dymant,24 a half-brother of Dora Diamant25and Hanna Epsztajn (Ring after the war). Epsztajn also worked in one of Rossner's workshops, most likely the one in Kołłątaja Street
During a meeting in Yad Vashem, two women in the film were identified by Esther Nir as her relatives: Rachel Kupfermünz, who was deported to Auschwitz, and her daughter, Ilza. Ilza survived the war and testified regarding Rossner's workshop.26
A street scene in this film shows two men walking towards the camera, one of whom – after comparing the figures on screen with a photo in the collection of portraits from Będzin28 – should, I believe, be identified as Abram Szafir.
Another man who was identified through the research on this collection is Mendel Lichtig,29 who appears in a scene that displays Jewish individuals in a humiliating manner.
Other sequences show another workshop owned by Rossner, and are of great importance. Esther Nir identified this workshop as the one in Koszarowa Street, where she worked alongside her brother-in-law, Arie Ferleger. Ferleger is seen supervising the workers. He is standing next to Esther Nir and her mother Sara (according to Nir’s identification).
Towards the end of the film, there is a short sequence showing Rossner, Sapir,30 his right hand, Jadzia Jakubowicz, Sapir’s secretary and Madzia, Sapir’s daughter, who was engaged to Theo, Esther Nir’s brother.
Through the research process, which allowed for identifications of places and individuals, this film became an invaluable visual documentation of two textile workshops which were under Nazi command but used the labour and expertise of Jews, a subject rarely documented on film, as well as a documentation of the activity of a person recognized by Yad Vashem as a "Righteous Among the Nations".
Films from the Netherlands received in Yad Vashem, both private and "institutional", tell a fascinating story: some of them create a "thread" of films, something which we have not yet found elsewhere.
The number of films taken by Jewish film makers in the Netherlands, or films depicting Jewish life made by various initiators (private and public, such as Polygoon Newsreel), is quite high. Moreover, many private films survived the war. Although there seems to be no visible connection between the creators of films donated to Yad Vashem or those collected by the Archive, thorough research indicates that many of them are interwoven, enabling us to tell a story not only of the family or the local community, but also of a much broader spectrum visually revealing aspects of the story and fate of Dutch Jews before and during the Holocaust. The films are marked by "direct connections", meaning that the same individual or individuals appear in multiple films, or that individuals directly connected to one another appear in more than one film. A historical-geographical connection is not sufficient for this distinction. Thus, if an individual identified in a particular film was deported to Westerbork, the direct connection would be made only if he actually appears in the Westerbork film. This constellation of interdependence bears, in fact, many similarities to the trajectory of a documentary film, in which one story leads to another.
The Bramson family films are a link in such a chain. The family consisting of Jacob (b. 1898), Carolina (née Klein, b. 1905, Groningen), and their children Reina (b. 1932), Jozef (b. 1934) and Betsy (b. 1937), lived in Franeker, Friesland, in Northern Holland. The couple, enthusiastic Zionists, visited Mandatory Palestine twice and even bought land there. Carolina studied law and Jacob worked as a psychiatrist and department manager at the Franeker Psychiatric Hospital. The family moved to Franeker for Jacob’s work.
Approximately half a year after the German occupation, Dr. Bramson, having been banned from serving in his position at the hospital, relocated with his family to Wildervank, adjacent to Veendam. In 1942 the family was deported to Westerbork, then transferred to the Vught camp. After a short while, they were sent back to Westerbork and about two months later, they were transferred Barneveld. After about half a year they were returned by truck to Westerbork, where they remained for three and a half months, and then volunteered to go to Bergen-Belsen to join a group of Jewish prisoners who had been designated as exchange candidates. In February 1945, due to the harsh conditions in the camp, Carolina passed away. The surviving members of the family immigrated to Israel, where Dr. Bramson became the head of a psychiatric hospital.
Dr. Bramson was an amateur film maker. With an 8mm camera, he filmed his family, shedding light on the life of a Jewish family in Holland31 before, during, and after the war. As he also filmed local events and occurrences of a communal nature, the scenes he recorded, along with the elements of private life they reveal, also illustrate aspects of the public sphere within the community. His son, Rabbi Jozef Bramson, donated copies of the films to Yad Vashem.
Rabbi Bramson identified people and events in the footage in two meetings, which were conducted at his home and in Yad Vashem. 32
Another link in this chain is the a film taken in the Birnbaum Home. Yehoshua Heschel Birnbaum was born in 1920 in Poland and moved, as a child, with his family to Germany. In 1927 he married Hennie Weiden. Five of their six children were born in Germany. In October 1938, Yehoshua was deported to Zbąszyń. After Kristallnacht Hennie decided to flee with the children to the Netherlands, where their sixth child was born. Yehoshua went to Holland to be united with his family before the outbreak of the war. As refugees, the Birnbaums were sent to Westerbork. They were asked to run a children's home at the camp after the arrival of children from a Dutch orphanage. The Birnbaums were extremely devoted to the protection of the children and made great efforts to save them from the deportation trains. 33 A worker in the aforementioned home was Ursula Breslauer,34 daughter of Rudolf Werner Breslauer. He documented the camp both in still photographs and in a film, as ordered by the camp commander, Albert Konrad Gemmeker. Ursula (today Hanita Moses) resided at the Birnbaum Home in Bussum until after the war.35
In February 1944, the Birnbaum family was deported to Bergen-Belsen, where Hennie and Yehoshua continued to care for children, including the Bramson children, after their mother passed away.
On April 10, 1945, the Birnbaums and the children in their care, as well as the Bramsons, were loaded onto a train – which came to be known as the ‘Lost Train’ – whose destination was Theresienstadt, though it never got there. It travelled aimlessly for days until it ended up at Tröbitz (Brandenburg) on April 22. In Rabbi Jozef Bramson’s testimony, he describes how the deportees received no food or water. In one of the stations, Jozef met Yehoshua Birnbaum, who gave him honey, which served as the family’s sustenance for several days. After the liberation, the Bramson family returned to the Netherlands, and after a while the Bramson children were sent to a children’s home opened by the Birnbaums36 in the building of "de Joodse Invalide" in Amsterdam (Birnbaum 2008).
In 1946, Max Feiwel, a close friend of the Birnbaums, who assisted with the care of the children at the home, filmed at the home with a 16mm camera.37 This humorous staged film shows everyday scenes from the children's life and a Purim party. Jacob Bramson and his children are among those who appear in the film.
On November 1, 2010, Yad Vashem conducted a group testimony meeting of Holocaust survivors who, as children, had resided at the Birnbaum Home after the war. They identified themselves, as well as other children who were there with them.38
One of the films from the Bramson collection documents a ceremony held in a synagogue in Veendam, in which a relative, Izak Polak, receives an award for his contribution to the community. This synagogue was demolished after the war, and many of those filmed did not survive the Holocaust. One prominent figure present at the ceremony was Rabbi Simon Dasberg, the chief rabbi of Groningen, who attended the event since the Veendam community was under the aegis of the Jewish community at Groningen.39 Rabbi Dasberg later perished in Bergen-Belsen.
Izak Polak (b. 23.11.1872, Veendam – d. 14.5.1943, Sobibór)40 was the chairman of the Jewish community of Veendam-Wildervank.41 Henderina Polak-Polak (b. 5.10.1869, Veendam – d. 28.8.1943, Amsterdam) 42was Izak's wife (as well as his second cousin) and Carolina Bramson's aunt.
Polak received a certificate of appreciation for his work for the community, a document which appears in the film. It is dated, according to our identification, to June 22, 1941, which, in turn, dates the entirety, or at least the majority, of the reel to that date. Our research was further aided by a key photograph found on the internet, which depicts the members of the committee in charge of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the synagogue in 1932.43 This enabled us to compare individuals appearing in this image with people seen in the film, and to identify them with varying, but often very high, degrees of certainty.
Only a handful of Jews from Veendam and Wildervank survived – generally by going into hiding – during the German occupation. The rest were taken in autumn 1942 to Westerbork and, from there, many were deported to their deaths. The Veendam synagogue was sold soon after the war and destroyed in 1947. 45 Thus, an amateur family film – a ‘home movie’ of sorts – became valuable wartime documentation of a community destroyed in the Holocaust. The identifications deduced from the group picture enable us to honour the memory of the victims and to better commemorate this small destroyed community.
Further ‘communal’ documentation from the Bramson collection are two reels of rare films of the Zionist agricultural training at the ‘Kibbutz’ in Franeker, in which scores of Jewish religious youngsters were trained for emigration to Eretz Israel (then mandatory Palestine), from its establishment in the 1930s until a short while after the German occupation.53 One of the initiators and activists of the Kibbutz was Dr. Bramson. He turned to local farmers, whom he knew through his work as a physician, and asked them to employ the trainees, so that they could learn directly from those whose livelihood was agriculture. Some of those filmed have been identified, and several of them are connected to individuals who appear in other films from the Netherlands.
A few years ago, Moshe Nordheim donated two family films to Yad Vashem.55 One of the films depicts Moshe and his family .
In his testimony from the Yad Vashem archives, as well as in the book he wrote, Moshe tells of his aunt Rivka (Rika), who married Jozef Zvi Dünner. They both went to Eretz Israel before the war and married there, and Moshe stayed in their home in Kfar Hasidim after the Holocaust.56 Jozef and Rika were members of the Kibbutz and, in fact, we were able to identify Jozef in one of the reels.57
A photo album donated to Yad Vashem59 includes a photo taken in the Kibbutz showing Jozef and Rika.
Another trainee we were able to identify is Eliezer Asscher. Eliezer, son of Louis Asscher and Louise Asscher-van Gelder, was born in Amsterdam in 1920. During the war, he was imprisoned in Westerbork, and in Bergen Belsen. This information was submitted by his brother Issakhar on the Page of Testimony in his name.61 The photo attached to that document shows him milking a cow, a photo reminiscent of a scene from Bramson’s film.62
Rudolf Werner Breslauer took Eliezer’s photo in Westerbork:64
Asscher passed away of exhaustion in Eindhoven on July 14, 1945.
On 14 June 1942 his cousin, also called Eliezer (Elie) Asscher, and Florrie Tal were married in Amsterdam. The couple and the guests all wore Yellow Stars.
Florrie was a trainee at the Kibbutz in Franeker65, and many of the family members seen in the wedding film were also connected to the Kibbutz. The rabbi who performed the marriage ceremony was Simon Dasberg, who was a close friend of the family.
In the abovementioned photo album66 one can find further photos taken in the Kibbutz. Among them are photographs in which, I believe, one can see Eli Asscher, the groom. In his testimony given to Yad Vashem, Eli does not mention having participating in any activities of note at the Kibbutz;67 however, it seems that he had at least, some degree of connection there.
Rabbi Bramson testified in an interview conducted by Yad Vashem69 about an experience he had in Bergen-Belsen:
[…] Once I was coming back, and then there was a bombardment. That is to say, little airplanes were arriving […] and bombarding the camp […] and they were coming down in my direction, to this roll call [place], and shooting. That is to say, I was really frightened and I ran to the barracks. That time or a different time, we were in the barracks lying on the ground because of shooting like that and I was crying hard, and I could not control myself. A very wise woman came over to me and said to me: "Why are you so…for everything is by Divine ordination. Whatever the Holy One Blessed Be He wants He will do, and you have nothing to fear". And suddenly I was freed from these fears. It became clear to me, who was this important woman? Clara Asscher Pinkof […].
Clara was the mother of Eli Asscher. She was a teacher and an author.
The wedding film depicts Isidore and Marianne Spangenthal. Isidore was the brother of Florrie's mother, Greta. They survived.
The wedding film depicts Isidore Spangenthal – the brother of Florrie's mother, Greta – as well as his wife Marianne. Both Marianne and Isidore survived.
Louis Asscher and Louise Asscher-van Gelder, parents of Eliezer Asscher seen in the film taken in the Kibbutz, were guests at the wedding of Elie and Florrie.
Louis (Amsterdam, 3 September 1885 – Schipkau, 19 April 1945) was a talented amateur painter and worked in a diamond factory. He was active in the religious-Zionist movement and acted as the treasurer of Mizrachi Nederland.70 His wife, Louise (Amsterdam, 8 March 1899 – Bergen-Belsen, 31 May 1945)71 served on the board of the Mizrachi women's movement 'Kolenoe'. Before the war the Asschers took German refugees into their home. When Louis Asscher and his family had to prepare for deportation, he packed, in addition to the items required, his phylacteries, prayer books, 25 sheets of paper, and pieces of charcoal. He created pencil drawings in Bergen-Belsen, which capture the nature of life in the camp.72
Jozef Pinkhof, Clara's brother (Amsterdam, 26 April 1906 – Bergen-Belsen, 7 January 1945)73 and Rosa Pinkhof-Asscher (Amsterdam, 1 April 1908 – Bergen-Belsen, 1 April 1945)74 perished. Their daughters – Ada and Leah – survived and immigrated to Israel.
An interesting identification in one of the Franeker Kibbutz reels76 is that of Channa Asscher-de Leeuw (b. Arnhem, 17.9.14). Channa was identified by comparison to a photo from the above mentioned album77
In 1941 Channa married Harry Naphtali Asscher, who was also in Franeker for some time. Naphtali was the brother of Rosa Asscher-Pinkhof, seen in the wedding film. Channa and Naphtali took in Rosa and Jozef's daughters, Leah and Ada, after the war. The couple were part of the Westerweel underground group (a film depicting Joop and Willy in 1939 also exists79). In her testimony, Channa80 mentioned Dr. Isidore and Marianne Spangenthal as being involved in collecting money for the Kibbutz.
There are other films in our archive connected to this "thread". This is, to be sure, only the tip of the iceberg.
In-depth research can, therefore, reveal a film as a valuable historical document, as well as a tool to commemorate the victims. Furthermore, research into films of this kind can show hitherto unknown relationships and correspondences (even if the film makers never met) and tell a broader story: that of a community.
Archival footage is, in a way, a double-edged sword: highly important as a visual tool and a historical document, but also a tempting medium for inappropriate use, due to its nature as a moving image – a characteristic which, through its lack of the usual static concreteness associated with historical documents, provides particular opportunities for exploitation. Wartime films have a complex nature, stemming, among other things, from the various motives of their creators. Nevertheless, these materials are invaluable as original documentation. They open a window into the world of their subjects, as well as that of their creators; they supplement information provided by other forms of documentation, and can provide researchers with entirely new discoveries themselves. They also give faces to victims condemned to remain nameless. Without thorough research the films can be misused as illustrative materials. The deeper the research goes, the more layers can be exposed, and the greater the filmed importance as a historical documentation.
Hopefully, such an approach will lead to a more serious and responsible treatment of archival films, especially by film directors, who make these materials accessible to the general public. By treating these films with the most appropriate consideration, we could build a more accurate visual memory of the Holocaust.
Efrat Komisar
Head of Historical Film Footage Section, Archives Division Yad Vashem
efrat.komisar@yadvashem.org.il
1 The term “film maker” will be used in the article to describe the person who made the film, regardless of the degree of his professionalism (as opposed to the term “filmmaker”).
2 The Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-239.
3 The German occupation of Wielopole in September 1939 brought with it a period of persecutions and murder. In the spring of 1942, the Jews were forced to crowd into a few narrow streets. On June 26, 1942 the Jews of Wielopole were deported to the ghetto in Ropzcyce. Some 50 sick and elderly Jews were murdered before the forced departure. Some of the people who appear in the filmed material were among those murdered that day.
4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRnMrGy9LYk.
6 The film was donated to Yad Vashem by his family. Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-242, V-1590.
7 Sent to Yad Vashem by his family.
8 Ufa–Tonwoche. Nr. 471 / 1939 (Bundesarchiv– Filmarchiv, signature: UTW 471). The Yad Vashem Film Archive holds a copy of that film: V-1454.
9 Yad Vashem Photo Archive, photo numbers 7261/355 – 7261/362.
10 Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID: 477763, Item ID: 1059793
11 Ibid, Item ID 719945.
12 Ghetto Fighters House Archives, Catalog No. 7076.
13 The Yad Vashem Film Archive holds a copy of that film: V-3002/4.
14 The translation was cited from http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol1_00156.html (Translated by Miriam Bulwar David–Hay).
15 http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/he/research/ghettos_encyclopedia/ghetto_details.asp?cid=646, [24-7-2017].
16 The Yad Vashem Film Archive holds a copy of that film: V-2989, V-2726.
17 Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID: 1521135.
18 Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID: 7703065.
19 Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID: 3900239.
20 The Yad Vashem Film Archive holds a copy of that film: V-3175.
21 ZIH, sygn.212/13; 212/14. Discussing the question of memory and how much one can rely on information given by witnesses after decades, it was interesting to see how accurate this information was.
22 http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4017225.
23 ZIH, 301/3483.
24 A page of testimony commemorating him was submitted by his sister, Sara. Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID 3963395.
25 The lover of Franz Kafka.
26 Her testimony can be found in the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw (ZIH 301/1491).
27 Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID 908245.
28 The Yad Vashem Photo Archive, FA176/S217.
29 The Yad Vashem Photo Archive, FA176/L234.
30 Esther Nir did not remember his first name.
31 In a place in which only two other Jewish families resided.
32 Yad Vashem Archives, Item no. 12836995, 10327483.
33 Yad Vashem Archives O.3–13243 (Testimony of Yozef Bramson), Yad Vashem Archives O.3–5566 (Testimony of Yaakov Bramson).
34 Yad Vashem Archives O.3–7637 (Testimony of Chanita [Breslauer] Mozes).
35 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, photograph no. 79186. The Bramson children were also in the Birnbaum children's home in Westerbork and home in Bussum.
36 Yad Vashem Archives O.3–13243 (Testimony of Yozef Bramson),
37 The Yad Vashem Film Archive, V-7588.
38 Yad Vashem Archives 0.3– 3480.
39 http://www.charlotte– salomon.nl/culture– and– history/the– netherlands/groningen/veendam– en– Wildervank [12-7-2017].
40 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/220769/izak– polak, [12-7-2017].
41 https://www.groningerarchieven.nl/historie/joden– in– groningen/veendam, [20-7-2017].
42 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/234195/henderina– polak– polak, [13-7-2017].
43 https://www.groningerarchieven.nl/historie/joden– in– groningen/veendam, [13-7-2017].
44 Standing (from left to right) are Meijer Jonas Vleesblok, Izaäk Josephus Meyers, Levie Abrahams Gans, Jacob Judas Cohen, Philippus Levie Bendik, Izak Nathans Polak. Sitting: Izaak Mozes Odewald, Roza Julia Tof, Esther Mozes van Delft-de Levie, Mietje Izaäks Franforter-West, Sientje Simons Klein.
45 http://jck.nl/en/node/1169, [13-7-2017]; http://data.jck.nl/detail/foldout/void_edmrecord/jck_niw– fotoarchief_NIW001035857 [13-7-2017]; http://data.jck.nl/detail/foldout/void_edmrecord/jck_niw– fotoarchief_NIW001035858 [13-7-2017]; Ghetto Fighters House Archive, catalogue no. 41616.
46 Odewald (24.11.1877, Wildervank – 12.4.1943, Auschwitz) owned a kosher bakery, establisheds by his father in 1872. On 12.5.42 Treuhandelgesellschaft Omnia took over the business (https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/120520/izaak– odewald) [12-7-2017].
47 Identified by Rabbi Bramson. Gans (7.12.1890 – 19.2.1943, Auschwitz) was a teacher( https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/171351/levie– gans) [12-7-2017] and a cantor (http://data.jck.nl/detail/foldout/void_edmrecord/jck_niw– fotoarchief_NIW001000155) [12-7-2017].
48 Identification effected by comparison to the photo https://www.groningerarchieven.nl/historie/joden– in– groningen/veendam [13-7-2017], as Esther van Delft- de Levie (Veendam, 23.3.1876 – Auschwitz, 19.11.1942, https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/120534/esther– van– delft– de– levie) [12-7-2017].
49 Identification by comparison with the photo from http://data.jck.nl/page/aggregation/niw– fotoarchief/NIW001000510, [12-7-2017] as Izaäk Meijers. Meijers (b. Veendam, 10.8.1899, https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/121188/izaak– meijers), [12-7-2017], who worked at the post office of Veendam and was the chairman of the committee of the synagogue's 40th anniversary celebrations. According to the information in https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/121188/izaak– meijers he perished in Externkommando Bismarckhütte; however, the camp was founded in September 1944 (http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz– sub– camps/bismarckhtte)/. This information should, therefore, be re-checked.
50 Theresia de Levie– Goldsmid (Nieuwe Pekela, 27.3.1871– Auschwitz, 23.11.1942, https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/121161/theresia– de– levie– goldsmid, [12-7-2017]) was identified after comparing the sequence from the film to a photo attached to a Page of Testimony submitted on her name (Item ID 4266082).
51 Sofie was born in in Veendam on 16.2.1913, lived in Groningen and worked as a saleswoman. She was murdered in Sobibor on 7.5.1943. A photo attached to a Page of Testimony submitted by her aunt assisted in identifying her (Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID 1314525; https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/28977/sofia– magnus– de– levie, [13-7-2017].
52 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/27771/sara– lezer– leviet, [13-7-2017].
53 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reels 3, 15.
54 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 15.
55 The Yad Vashem Film Archive, V-7763, V-7764.
56 See his testimony: Yad Vashem Archives, O.3–6533 and O.3–7439 and his book Nordheim 2003.
57 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 3.
58 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 3.
59 Yad Vashem Archives, item no. 11690252.
60 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 15.
61 Yad Vashem - Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, item ID 1854209.
62 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 15.
63 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 15.
64 Ghetto Fighters House Archives, Catalogue no. 40854.
65 See her testimony: Yad Vashem Archives, O.3–V.T/681.
66 Yad Vashem Archives, item no. 11690252.
67 Yad Vashem Archives 0.3–9366.
68 Yad Vashem Photo Archive, 4867/10.
69 Yad Vashem Archives, O.3–13243. The testimony was given in Hebrew. Translation by Wendy Bar- Yakov.
70 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/33181/louis-asscher, https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/515544/about-louis-asscher, [13-7-2017].
71 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/190146/louise– asscher– van– gelder, [13-7-2017].
72 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/515544/about-louis-asscher.
73 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/206480/jozef– pinkhof, [13-7-2017]; Yad Vashem – Pages of Testimony Names Memorial Collection, Item ID 1748034.
74 https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/206479/rosa– pinkhof– asscher, [20-7-2017].
75 Yad Vashem Archives, item no. 11690252.
76 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 3.
77 Yad Vashem Archives, item no. 11690252.
78 Yad Vashem Film Archive, S-299 reel 3.
79 Werkplaatsfilm (8 mm) gemaakt door Herman Bongers. 1939. 11 spoelen, 2 ex. Source: Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis.
80 Ghetto Fighter's House archive, catalogue no. 319.
Efrat Komisar, M.A., is the Head of Historical Film Footage Section in the Archives Division in Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. In the past she was the film researcher of the Holocaust History Museum in Yad Vashem.
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URL: http://www.apparatusjournal.net/
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