Visit to Theresienstadt

From 3.6. to 5.6.2002 DOP Hannes Böck and Fabian Schmidt visited the Ghetto of Theresienstadt (and the Small Fort, though no footage was shot there). We even stayed in a Hotel situated in the former Ghetto. Theresienstadt is of vital interest for our project, as at least three times filming efforts have been undertaken by the perpetrators, first in 1942, then an incoming transport from Westerbork in January 1944 and eventually the so called „Theresienstadtfilm“ usually attributed to Kurt Gerron. Theresienstadt was one of the transit ghettos and is one important station in documenting the sites of the Holocaust today and it is one of the few locations familiar from the perpetrator (/propaganda) films. Though there are two museums and an archive with extensive collections and informative exhibitions in Theresienstadt today, the city suffers from decay. Specifically, the Dresden Kaserne, one of the oldest parts of the ghetto and the location where the famous soccer game was filmed, today looks devastated. Some impressions from the weekend and two images from the 1944 Theresienstadtfilm (I believe one should preserve this building):

Here’s some fotos from the shooting and some stills from Hannes Böck’s work: