Leni (film)

Movie
Original title	Leni ... must go (Another title: Leni. Only memories remained)
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1993
length	83 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Leo Hiemer
script	Katja Reuter
production	Daniel Zuta
music	Vyšniauskas Quartet
camera	Marian Czura
cut	Ulrike Leipold
occupation
Hannes Thanheiser : Johann Aibele Christa Berndl : Alwina Albele Martin Abram : Servant Severin Franz Buchrieser : Teacher Josef Blatzer Johanna Thanheiser : Leni , 5 years Natalia Wörner : Leni's mother Luis Lamprecht : caretaker Ruth caretaker : Sister Ludowiga Armin Schmid : Mayor - local group leader Sarah Camp : Wife of the Mayor Vitus Zeplichal : Obersturmbannführer Eisele Andreas Sportelli : Leni's father Georg Leumer : village pastor

Leni… must go, Leni for short is the title of a film by the Allgäu filmmaker Leo Hiemer based on a true incident during the Nazi era . The film received awards at several festivals and is classified as "Particularly valuable".

Real background

The Jewish girl Leni, with real name Gabriele Schwarz , was born on May 24, 1937 in Markt Oberdorf (Ostallgäu) as the daughter of a Jewish singer from Augsburg . When she was three weeks old, the mother hid her daughter with farmers on a remote farm near Stiefenhofen in Westallgäu . After the hiding place became known, Leni first came to the orphanage of the Vincentine Sisters in Munich at the age of five . From there she was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in 1943 and murdered. A memorial plaque in the Spinner Chapel on the outskirts of Oberstaufen and a glass window in the plague chapel above Stiefenhofen remind us today of Leni's fate.

Film plot

The film plot begins with the birth of the child, called Magdalena - or Leni for short - in the film in 1937 in the Allgäu. After an emergency baptism by nuns, the older, childless farmer couple Johann and Alwina Aibele Leni takes over as foster child. The foster father is initially very reserved and initially sees the child only as a burden, but then develops a particularly intense bond with him. When Leni's birth mother shows up after about five years to see her child at least once, the whereabouts of the child are known and the overzealous mayor loyal to the regime - since the stranger has apparently been seen and rumors about the old people's little child circulate in the village denounced to the Nazi Gauleiter . They investigate and inform the Aibeles that Leni, although baptized, is not Aryan according to the Nuremberg Laws . Leni's mother comes to the farm one last time to say goodbye. The anti-Semitism is now strong in the village. Even the pastor is no exception. When Aibele found out on Christmas Eve from a letter from the mayor brought by the community servant that Leni's mother had died on the run, the foster parents were faced with the decision: either they give away Leni or the mentally handicapped brother of the farmer, who was previously called Servant worked on the farm. Neither the old Aibele farmer whom Leni has grown fond of, nor the upright village teacher can prevent Leni's removal.

literature

• Astrid Fendt: A Jewish Fate in the Western Allgäu. Leo Hiemer returns to his homeland to film a true story. In: Allgäuer Zeitung from June 1, 1993

Web links

Commons : Gabriele Schwarz-Eckart  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website for the film , Leo Hiemer Filmproduktion
• Leni in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Leni at filmportal.de
• When the Holocaust comes to Stiefenhofen , press article on the real background of the film, Der Westallgäuer , November 8, 2008

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Source: Federal Archives , Memorial Book Victims of Persecution of Jews under National Socialist Tyranny in Germany 1933 - 1945 [1]