The war in memory. Narrated (hi)stories from National Socialism and Second World War
Contemporary witnesses were at the centre of the multi-year international EU project CINEMASTORIES OF WWII – KINOGESCHICHTEN DES WK2. Together with four other partners from Slovakia (Post Bellum, Tachles TV), the Czech Republic (Post Bellum) and Croatia (Documenta), Holocaust survivors and other witnesses of the Second World War as well as their descendants were interviewed. The Bautzner Straße Dresden Memorial conducted various interviews, which formed the basis of the documentary film "The war in memory. Narrated History(ies) from National Socialism and the Second World War". To mark the end of the EU project, the project partners involved will meet for a final meeting at the Bautzner Straße Dresden Memorial. This film will be shown in the ballroom with English subtitles. Following the screening, the respective project leaders will discuss (in English) the relevance of interviews with contemporary witnesses.
The Second World War was a rupture in the lives of the vast majority of people, not only in Europe. Millions were killed, maimed and suffered psychological injuries, lost relatives or their homes. Some tried to forget what they had experienced, but many others continued to tell their stories. Those who were children at the time still remember the suffering and hardship of the war today. These stories preserve the memory of the horrors of National Socialism. In Germany, those who suffered most were those who were declared "second-class citizens" for racial, political, religious and other reasons in line with National Socialist ideology and thus lost all state protection.
From Renate Aris, who experienced the first years of the war in Dresden as the child of Jewish parents, to Herbert Wagner, who describes the expulsion from what is now the Czech Republic, to Herbert Topf, descendant of the Topf & Sons family, who helped write inglorious German history as the "Ofenbauer von Auschwitz": Ten people who themselves experienced the Second World War or are descendants of the war generation talk in interviews about their formative experiences and how these influenced their biographies and continue to do so today. The film is also a testimony to the relevance of eyewitness accounts for the preservation of history for us and future generations, even today.
Film screening: German with English subtitles, Discussion: English
Venue: Bautzner Straße Dresden Memorial, Festsaal
Admission: free
