The children of Windermere
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The children of Windermere |
| Original title | The Windermere Children |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language |
English , Polish , Hebrew |
| Publishing year | 2020 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Samuels |
| script | Simon Block |
| production | Bernd von Fehrn |
| music | Alex Baranowski |
| camera | Wojciech Szepel |
| cut | Victoria Boydell |
| occupation | |
| |
The Children of Windermere (Original title: The Windermere Children ) is a British TV movie directed by Michael Samuels from the year 2020 . The film drama describes the fate of Jewish orphans who survived the Holocaust in Poland and were recorded for four months in Windermere (Lake District, Cumbria County, England).
action
The film begins with original statements from the adult survivors about their feelings upon arrival in Windermere as children. In it they describe their insecurity, their astonishment at their survival and the freedom they perceive.
A bus with Polish-speaking children and young people, some of whom are wearing English military clothing, reaches Calgarth. You will be welcomed by a group of carers and volunteers. There is great tension among the children because they were only liberated from the German concentration camps a few months ago and do not know what to expect at the destination of their trip. Salek Falinower is so scared that he doesn't get off the bus at first.
The admission procedure makes her very suspicious: the undressing, the removal of all valuables and the medical examination remind her of her former daily life in the camp and the selections . The supervisors try to appease and point out that the clothes have to be burned because of the risk of typhus . When asked what his name is, a boy replies with his prisoner number tattooed in Auschwitz ; he gives his origin as Otoszno, Auschwitz , Buchenwald and Theresienstadt . Only then does he give his name: Arek Hershlikovicz .
The medical examination reveals a variety of scars from abuse, poorly healed wounds and the consequences of malnutrition. Chaim Olmer is registered in Wildermere under the name of another boy, Ephraim Minsburg. He repeatedly insists that his real name be registered so that his relatives have a chance to find him in England.
The simple houses of the former camp for workers in a factory, in which the children and young people are housed, remind them of the barracks of the concentration camps. However, they notice that there are no searchlights, no electric fence, and no crematorium . The mistrust turns into astonishment when each of the children is given their own room.
A group of six three- to four-year-old boys and girls turned out to be particularly traumatized: They had hidden in a camp and lived on waste. Although they all have their own bed, they leave it and seek proximity to the somewhat older girl Bella. After all, they all sleep under her bed.
The project is led by Oscar Friedmann, who, before emigrating from Germany, ran a home in Berlin for behavioral and traumatized boys. In an interview with the Windermere founder Leonard Montefiore, he said that the four-month stay promised by the British government would be very short for the young people to successfully reintegrate them. Above all, the young people learned to survive in the camps and stole bread from those who were too weak to eat it.
For Salek, waking up after the first night is a remarkable event: he notices the peace and the chirping of birds and enjoys leaving the camp and wandering freely.
The first breakfast for the young people, before which Oskar Friedmann gives a speech, ends in chaos: after Rabbi Weiss' blessing, the children grab all the bread and hide it in their rooms.
During the treatment against lice , the first contact is made with the local youths who visit the camp with their bicycles: The English boys refer to the Polish youths as Krauts , assuming that they are Germans. Ike Alterman, who is mocked as Adolf , approaches a boy and drags him into the tent where the lice agent is being sprayed. The boy is sprayed in his full clothing and then driven off the premises by Ike with his companions.
With the bicycles left behind by the British, the Polish youths go on a wild tour of the nearby town. There they get to know the next local youth, local girls. A dialogue develops between them in which the existing language barrier, but also mutual curiosity, becomes visible.
Edith Lauer goes on a walk in the forest with the six small children, accompanied by Marie Paneth. In the forest they meet a local resident. When their very small dog starts to bark, Edith Lauer's children tear themselves away and flee in panic into the forest where they are hiding. Lauer refers to children's fear of dogs in general, and eventually seeks and finds the children. The dog owner is angry about the presence of the war refugees in Great Britain and mentions her own suffering caused by the war, while Marie Paneth recounts the unimaginable experiences of the children.
Chaim Olmer, Icek Alterman, Ben Helfgott and Arek Hershlikovicz talk about their very different homeland in Poland, which they lost with their relatives. All children and adolescents suffer from serious nightmares and Oskar Friedmann and his helpers wonder whether they will ever cope with their difficult fate: While they can remember a happy time as adults, the children got to know little else than the camp terror. The fate of the children's relatives appears to be the most important in their life.
While Oskar Friedmann's offer to talk is not accepted, the children reveal and process the horrors and horrors they have experienced in the art therapy offered by Marie Paneth . Paneth is shocked about the created motifs and hardly manages to distance himself from the depictions.
The group is taught English by Rabbi Weiss, and Jock Lawrence trains the boys in soccer. Ben Helfgott turns out to be untrained, but very athletic. Lawrence sends the invitation to a friendly game, which Oscar Friedmann refuses because of the young people's lack of experience.
While walking into town to eat ice cream, there is another encounter with the local boys and their leader Malcolm. These show the Hitler salute , which strongly intimidates the refugee children; a boy wets himself on the street. Oskar Friedmann speaks to the boys and explains that the children are not Germans and, on the contrary, their families have been downright slaughtered by Germans. He urges the boys to ensure that his charges are safe in the city.
A great affection develops between Sala and Arek; together they learn the English names for the nature that surrounds them.
The arrival of notifications from the Red Cross tracing service about the missing relatives will be a decisive experience for the entire group . Almost everyone receives news of the death of their closest relatives.
Rabbi Weiss speaks the kaddish for the dead family members. Arek had hoped that at least one member of his family would not be murdered. His desperation weighs heavily on him and destroys the relationship that has now developed with Sala. In this situation Sala is comforted by Marie Paneth.
While taking a walk with his wife Edith, Georg Lauer considers leaving Europe and emigrating to America in order to build a new professional future there. They meet Salek on the access road to the site, who is convinced that despite the bad news from the Red Cross, at least his brother has survived.
During soccer training there is an argument between the boys and Jock Lawrence: his athletic drill reminds them of the harassment they had to experience in the camps. Lawrence points out that after their time in Windermere, hardly anyone will consider their status as former camp inmates. The boys refuse to continue training. When Lawrence addressed Ben Helfgott with "My son", he replied that he was the only son of his father, Moshe Helfgott, who was shot while trying to escape from a death march .
The boys talk about the time after their liberation and their plans for the future: When they returned to Piotrków, Ben and his cousin were insulted as " dirty Jews " and almost killed by two Polish soldiers. In conversation, the boys discover that three of them are survivors of the train from Buchenwald . Ben Helfgott assumes that no one will believe their experiences during the persecution, even if they tell the truth forever.
Five boys organize a picnic by the lake and steal eggs and dishes for it. They talk about their plans for where they will live after Windermere: They talk about Palestine and Britain. Ironically, they think that they look 'too Jewish' for Great Britain and that the British would refuse them any further stay because of this. Chaim also haunted nightmares about his mother during the day.
Oskar Friedmann wants to confront the five boys about their theft, but then calls all the children and young people of the camp together because a local's dog has also disappeared. Friedmann affirmed against the conviction of the locals not to punish the guilty. Juliusz returns the dog and apologizes to the woman. Jock Lawrence proposes another friendly against the local youth team.
background
After the end of the Second World War , the British author and philanthropist Leonard Montefiore , great-nephew of Moses Montefiore , organized the admission of 1,000 displaced persons of children and adolescents who had survived the concentration camps. He convinced the British government to do this on behalf of the Committee for the Care of Children from Concentration Camps , which received approval for 1,000 children. In fact, 732 people were enrolled in the UK, only 80 of whom were girls. On the morning of August 14, 1945, the children and young people were brought from Prague to the Royal Air Force base in Crosby-on-Eden near Carlisle in ten converted Stirling bombers . The children and young people between the ages of three and fifteen were registered there and then taken by bus to Windermere, where they were personally greeted by Leonard Montefiore. Accommodation in Windermere was chosen because the place was quiet and isolated.
The children were placed in the barracks of the Short Sunderland aircraft factory , which had been moved to Windermere during the war to protect against bombing.
documentation
In addition to the film editing, ZDF-History produced a documentation about the action by Montefiore and the helpers. In this historical recordings, participants such as Arek Hersh , Ike Alterman , Ben Helfgott , Chaim Olmer , Bela Rosenthal (now Joanna Millan) and Sam Laskier can be seen, as they u. a. board an RAF plane in Prague . In the program called The Children of Windermere - The Documentation , helpers such as the RAF officer Norman Shepherd, the Austrian painter and psychoanalyst Marie Paneth and others have their say.
reception
The film praises the fact that it does not report on the fate of the surviving children of the Holocaust in a documentary, but rather reminds of their fate through personal stories:
“Next to him (Thomas Kretschmann) the pan-European youth cast is most impressive. Within the memorial program, which is currently commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz camp on television, it contributes no less to the education than the documentaries reporting from hell. "
In addition, it is emphasized in the film review that the story of the children and their committed carers is not depicted in drastic pictures, but rather cautiously drawn, especially in the play of the young people:
“Emotional, but very discreet and tactful (television) historical drama that pays tribute to the benefactors of the time, especially a group of 13- to 17-year-olds who were badly marked. The film does not try to illustrate the horror experienced, but rather focuses on the moving acting of the young actors. "
Web links
- The children of Windermere in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mention of Otoszno
- ↑ a b From the Holocaust to Lake Windermere , article in The Telegraph, January 27, 2015, accessed January 29, 2020
- ↑ https://presseportal.zdf.de/pm/die-kinder-von-windermere/
- ↑ You were treated like people again at FAZ.net on January 27, 2020
- ↑ The Children of Windermere. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 22, 2020 .