Description updated to include a survivor who was identified by her daughter. The description of the survivor, provided by her daughter extended far beyond the scope of this catalog record, but is being preserved here: Dear USHMM, I am writing to give you information which I ask be added to your archival material. I have seen online your item references Access 2007.207.1; RG-60.4637; Film ID 2842. The item is film shot in Theresienstadt (Terezin) in 1942. At about 4.10 there is a short clip of what appears to be a cabaret show. The dancer closest to the camera, wearing a large hat, and holding a wreath, is my late mother. Her details are the following: She was born Helena Katz in Trutnov (then Trautenau) on 22.6.1916. In her first married name, Helena Hermannova, she was deported on 10.8.1942 from Prague to Terezin. She appears in the deportation list as Ba677. While in Terezin, she briefly worked as a secretary in the infirmary. The notes which she made on behalf of Dr Erich Springer between 8 February 1944 and 5 April 1944 are held in the Wiener Library London, reference 578/1. She was transported from Terezin to Auschwitz on 18 May 1944 as prisoner Eb1206, and from there to Stutthof in mid July 1944. Her registration at Stutthof is dated 20 July 1944. The USHMM holds her memoir, A Time to Speak by Helen Lewis, published by Blackstaff (Belfast) 1992: DS 135.C97L484. She was interviewed for the USC Shoah project in 1986, and several hours of footage are online on you tube. She died in Belfast, aged 93, on 31.12.2009. With thanks and kind regards Robin Lewis Flat 2, 1-10 Summers Street, London EC1R 5BD
Scenes from the filming of a 1942 film about Theresienstadt. Interior of a crowded coffehouse with a band playing on stage. Star of David badges are visible on clothing. A man sits down at a table with his young daughter and a waitress serves them coffee. The scene is repeated. Shots of the band and people in the audience. The next scene shows a man leaving the coffeehouse. A sign on the door states that entrance cards must be presented when entering and leaving the coffeehouse. An outdoor shot of a uniformed German with a camera filming two signs. Two other Germans accompany him. A close up of the signs, one of which gives the name of the town in German (Theresienstadt) and in Czech (Terezin). The other sign is not completely legible. Good CUs of the German assembling and operating the camera. The men get into a car. The next shot shows a sentry guarding the camp and a sign that reads,"Jewish settlement area, stopping forbidden" Various scenes of a comedic stage performance, with a number of people onstage in costumes. At 10:29:49:20 the woman on stage wearing a hat and holding a wreath is Helena Hermannova (née Katz) of Trautenau Czechoslovakia. Good CU of an SS officer in the audience. The next performance is a marionette show. Jews play soccer on a field. A large number of prisoners and Germans, some carrying cameras and other equipment, walk across the soccer field. The next scenes show prisoners digging trenches and Germans filming near railroad tracks. Open freight wagons filled with dirt sit on the tracks. 10:35:30 Good CUs of German cameraman. A young Jewish woman wearing a scarf smiles at the camera. A cameraman films from a freight car while prisoners help push the cars along the track. Close up of a man in a truck, then a car with an SS license plate. According to Karel Margry, the 1942 film is much less known than the one filmed in 1944. The 1942 film may have been produced on Himmler's orders. A Czech Jewish prisoner, Irena Dudanowa, was the director and the camera team was made up of members of the SD. The film was about a Jewish family who were deported from Prague to Theresienstadt.
Filming of the 1942 Theresienstadt propaganda film