Theresienstadt (1944)

Director:

Kurt Gerron

Writers:

Kurt Gerron (writer)
Manfred Greiffenhagen (script contributor)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

This is the only film known to be made by the Nazis inside an operating concentration camp. Germany's...

Plot Keywords:

Holocaust | Unreleased Film | Jewish | Theresienstadt | Propaganda

Cast

Paul Eppstein	...	Vorsitzender des Ältestenrates der Juden / Soziologe - Mannheim - Berlin
Karel Fischer	...	Dirigent
Kurt Gerron	...	Regisseur - Schauspieler
Frau Görtz	...	Gräfin - Holland
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself
Hans Krása	...	Komponist - Prag
Alfred Meissner	...	Jurist - ehem. Minister - Tschechoslowakei
Jo Spier	...	Maler - Zeichner - Holland

Also Known As:

Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet (Czechoslovakia) (long title)

Runtime:

Canada:23 min

Country:

Germany | Czechoslovakia

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:(Banned) (original rating)

Company:

Aktualita

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lys i mørket, Et (1983) (TV)

The holocaust was real, but the prisoners' paradise a myth

The holocaust was not a myth, as some Neo-Nazis claim. The Third Reich's documents and the films of concentration camps made by the Nazis themselves serve as historical records, as do the reports of the survivors and the allied forces who rescued them.

But this film made by the Nazis themselves in 1944 called "Theresienstadt – the Fuhrer gives a City to the Jews" is pure myth, made for propaganda purposes. The city, now located in the Czech Republic, was then actually an overcrowded transit camp for prisoners en route to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Goebbels hired the Jewish actor/director Kurt Gerron, who had appeared in Marlene Dietrich's first famous movie, "Blue Angel" in 1930. He shot the film as instructed, depicting the place as a model Jewish settlement, or city of paradise. The overcrowding was temporarily curtailed by sending extra shipments of prisoners off to the gas chambers while the filming took place. It was made to look like a holiday village, a paradise for the Jews and foreigners. There were apparently ideal living conditions, play schools and gyms for the children, theatrical productions, arts and crafts, and as a climax to the film, there was a fine performance by a massed choir of Verdi's Requiem Mass. Even the Red Cross came and saw the town, and was impressed (and deceived by) the apparent excellent living conditions. As soon as the film was in the can, all the participants were shipped quietly away to be gassed at Auschwitz, including Kurt Gerron and his wife. A sad story that turns the stomach, that such inhumanity could be inflicted on millions of innocent people, not only Jews, but just as many others, Germans, foreigners and political dissidents alike.

What remains of the movie is a tragic and ironic record of the Nazis' malevolence, and the circumstances of its making should never be forgotten.