Illich family activities in 1940
Creator(s)
- Ellen R. Illich (Camera Operator)
- Yvonne Illich
Biographical History
Ellen (Maexie) Regenstreif Illich (1901-1965) came from a family of converted Sephardic Jews who had settled in Germany. Her industrialist father, Fritz (Pucki) Regenstreif (1868-1941), had a lumber business in Bosnia where he owned a sawmill at Zavidovic and an Art Nouveau villa on the outskirts of Vienna in Pötzleinsdorf built by Friedrich Ohmann. Piero Ilic (1890-1942) came from a landed family in Dalmatia, Yugoslavia with property in Split and extensive wine and olive oil producing estates on the island of Brac. Ellen and Piero married in 1925 and established a home in Split. There was a resurgence of anti-foreign and anti-Jewish sentiment in Yugoslavia, so in 1932, Ellen returned to her father's villa in Vienna with their three children: Ivan (1926-2002), Michael (Micha) (b. 1928), and Alexander (Sascha) (1928-2009). Piero died of natural causes in Split in July 1942 (the boys never saw their father after they moved to Vienna). After the death of Fritz Regenstreif on May 8, 1941, the splendid home was taken by the Nazis in a forced sale, and Maexie moved into a pension in Vienna with the children. In Nazi Austria, Maexie was considered an ethnic Jew although she was a baptized Christian, and the children were classified as half-Jewish. In 1942, they made their way to Florence by way of Split, where they lived for three months. Later, Maexie made her way to the United States, where she died in 1965.
Scope and Content
Family activities in the year 1940. Introduced with Maexie Films logo (drawing of Maexie holding a film camera) and some German titles. Fritz Regenstreif walks down a walkway amidst the snow; the entire villa is under snowy cover. Ivan shoveling and the twins, Micha and Sascha, digging in the snow. Ellen Regenstreif (Maexie) struggles to make it through the snow. The boys cross country ski through the forest. Inside the villa, the twins play music and take violin and piano lessons (Blüthner piano) with "Olgica". The boys and their teacher sing songs. On April 21, 1940 (Maexie's birthday), the twins ride their bikes outside on villa property. Cousin Hanni appears. 03:06:36 (Color) A blossoming tree in the spring. Fritz Regenstreif smells the yellow tree buds, the boys play in the yard. A religious procession for Corpus Christi descends a stairwell and must stop to allow the Hitler Youth to march by on the road. The procession proceeds with girls dressed in white, a priest, and the twin boys holding flags. Hiking in the Alps (Rax), the boys stand on an observation deck and overlook the scenery. Cows grazing in a meadow, then on the hiking trail, CUs. The boys rifle through a leather satchel and eat lunch. Cousin Hanni with a red umbrella laughs and poses for the camera. The twin boys dig in the dirt. Ivan hugs Hanni and helps her with a toy scooter. 03:10:07 (B/W) The boys and friends play croquet on the grounds of Villa Regenstreif. The boys bike through the streets with their driver Leithner and wave to the camera. Sascha poses with his grandfather Fritz in the garden. The boys wrestle in the grass and swim in a pool. They nap on a blanket in the grass. Ivan works with a microscope and Sascha plays the cello. 03:13:17 (Flawed color) Pan of the snow on the trees in Villa Regenstreif. The Illich twins slide on the ice and play in the snow. Good views of the house and a plowed road in Poetzleinsdorf.
Note(s)
There is no burn-in time code on the DVD (user copy).
Subjects
- FLOWERS
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- RELIGIOUS SERVICES
- HITLER YOUTH
- ALPS MOUNTAINS
- FAMILIES
- ALPS
- CLERGY
- SUMMER
- WINTER
- BEACHES
- PARADES
- VACATIONS
- BICYCLES
- MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
- SNOW
Places
- Vienna, Austria
- , Austria
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.