Memories of the fates of Nazi-era victims are often erased or no one talks about them. The film is an appeal against oblivion and an approach to survivors and descendants.
Author Anne Gänsicke: “I have long been convinced that things must be told until all the wounds have been examined and can heal in the air for all to see. Working on this film has clearly strengthened me in this.”
Friederike Fechner’s emotional journey passes through archives, from Stralsund, through Amsterdam, to New York and also to the former Ravensbrück concentration camp. In the end, touching meetings take place between relatives who previously knew nothing about each other and who would never have met without this meticulous search for clues.
Friederike Fechner says she also felt a lack of words in her family – there was silence about the Holocaust. “Maybe it also sparked a particular interest because I always felt like I had to support it in some way and that’s not how I wanted it to be. May historical facts be kept silent or only seen unilaterally. why it’s important to understand this story being told.”
One of the film’s protagonists is concentration camp survivor Peter Weishut, who passed away in April 2023. For the film, he forced himself to talk for the first time about what he experienced as a child in Bergen-Belsen: “It has only become a topic now that I had contact with Friederike. .”
The film’s premiere took place in May 2023 at the Schwerin Film Art Festival. Birgit Müller is responsible for editorial work; Other people involved in NDR are Mike-Thomas Römisch/Hans Tanz/Maximilian Pilz (camera), Maximilian Pilz (sound) and Gaby Biesterfeld/Vivian Krex (editing). “Where are you? The Blachs. The story of a Jewish family” will be shown on November 15, 2023 at 9 pm on NDR television and from 10 am in the ARD media library. The film is available for advance viewing in the NDR press portal screening room.
Photo rights: NDR/Anne Gänsicke