Filmspiegel – A cinema periodical published in Berlin. 1950s. At the center of the issue is an extensive article following publications concerning a documentary film produced by Joachim Hellwig, which was screened in both parts of Germany (West and East Germany at the time), telling the story of Anne Frank and dealing with Nazi war criminals who were then living in Germany and had escaped punishment for their crimes.
The author describes the plot of the film produced by Joachim Hellwig, based on Anne’s authentic story, accompanied by musical compositions by Wolfgang Hohensee. He briefly recounts the story of Anne Frank and the fate of the Jews during the Holocaust: “Consider that six million (murdered Jews) amounts to approximately one-third of the entire population of our republic, ” and points out the fact that the whole world tells the story of the Frank family, yet does not sufficiently address “who their murderers were and what became of them.” The author describes the documentary film: “In a gripping sequence, we see documentary footage of the resistance against the fascist occupation in the Netherlands. We see original and heartbreaking documents of raids, deportations, and transports in which innocent prisoners were taken like cattle to slaughter… In Auschwitz, we see the Buna factory, built by prisoners; Max Faust, chief engineer of the IG Farben corporation, in conversation with Himmler; and a document in which he demands even more people from Himmler for forced labor. We also see a responsible figure: Otto Ambros, head of the Buna factory in Auschwitz, praising the new partnership with the SS as ‘blessed.’ What this blessing looked like in reality is shown to us through horrifying images of selections for the gas chambers, of emaciated forced laborers – and starving prisoners. Again and again, the smiling face of Anne Frank appears, one of the victims of this insane barbarity…”.
The film also dealt with Nazi war criminals who succeeded in escaping punishment for their crimes: “Albert Konrad Gemmeker, former SS commander of Westerbork, now wanders the streets of Düsseldorf as a respected businessman. Max Faust drives his luxury limousine out through the gates of his home, a magnificent villa on Rubensstrasse in Ludwigshafen. Karl Wolff, another beast in human form, at that time head of Himmler’s personal staff and liaison between the IG Colors corporation and the Auschwitz concentration camp, basks in the sun upon the pier of his well-guarded palace on Lake Starnberg… As is well known, the antisemite Globke is today one of Adenauer’s most influential advisers.”
The author concludes: “The film ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ should be shown to millions of people at home and abroad. It will open the eyes of many. But it also serves as a reminder to all of us never to forget what happened and to help prevent the occurrence of new and even more terrible events.”
Alongside the article appears a photograph of Anne, as well as the family’s hiding place in Amsterdam, and a photograph of her in her school classroom (Anne appears marked at the center of the photograph). On the right appear photographs of Nazi war criminals who were never punished for their crimes – including a photograph of the engineer Max Faust alongside Himmler, the man under whose management Auschwitz was built – “Chief engineer Faust has returned to his work. His address is 32 Rubensstrasse, Ludwigshafen, ” it states. Also included is a photograph of the Reich Commissioner in the occupied Netherlands, Dr. Hermann Conring: “Today he is a member of the CDU parliamentary faction in the German Bundestag in Bonn. His address is 42 Wiener Norderstrasse, ” as well as the address of Albert Konrad Gemmeker, commander of the Westerbork transit camp.
The magazine was published in East Germany during the 1950s, and served as a popular periodical covering the world of cinema, primarily German films (especially DEFA productions), alongside international cinema.
12 pages. Complete issue. Very good condition.
