| Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kurt Gerron |
| Written by | Kurt Gerron |
| Release date(s) | 1944 (unreleased) |
| Running time | ca. 90 minutes (surviving footage: 20 minutes) |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet (English: Terezin: A Documentary Film from the Jewish Settlement Area) was a black-and-white projected Nazi propaganda film shot in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt.
In the summer of 1944 the Nazi government had perpetrated a hoax against the Danish Red Cross by taking them on a tour of the Theresienstadt concentration camp in the Sudetenland, occupied Czechoslovakia. They fixed up and cleaned the camp prior to arrival and arranged cultural activities to give the appearance of a happy, industrious community. To cover up the endemic overpopulation of the camp, numerous inmates were deported to Auschwitz before the arrival of the Red Cross delegation.
The gimmick was so successful that SS commander Hans Günther attempted to expand on it by having Kurt Gerron, a Jewish actor/director, make a short film about the camp to assure audiences that the inmates kept there were not being abused.[1] In return they promised that he would live. Shortly after he finished shooting the film, however, both he and other cast members were "evacuated" to Auschwitz where they were gassed upon arrival.
The film was intended to be shown in neutral countries to counter anti-Nazi propaganda about the persecution of Jews coming from the Allies. Influential organisations such as the International Red Cross and the Vatican would be given screenings. However, the progress of the war in that period (late 1944 to early 1945) made that impossible. After an initial screening in early April 1945 to senior members of the government and SS there were a few other screenings to international humanitarian groups in Theresienstadt in April 1945. Further distribution was halted by the defeat of Germany.[1]
The full film was destroyed but about 20 minutes of sequences from the film have survived.[1] The surviving footage features a children's opera, Brundibar, and two musical performances on a wooden pavilion in the town square. One is of Karel Ančerl conducting a work by Pavel Haas, the other is of the jazz band leader Martin Roman and his Ghetto Swingers. Ančerl and Roman both survived Auschwitz; most of their musicians and the children from the opera did not.
The "Beautification", the Red Cross tour and the making of the film, are dramatized extensively in the novel War and Remembrance as well as the mini-series. Austerlitz, a novel by W.G. Sebald, features discussion of and a still of the film.