Jewish family and vacation life in Reichenbach
Creator(s)
- Peter Weyl (Subject)
- Eric Weyl (Subject)
- Ruth Geall
- Doris Weyl (Subject)
- Else Weyl (Subject)
- Eric Weyl (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Eric Weyl (1898-1968) married Else Fleischer (1904-1957) in 1923 in Reichenbach. They had two children, Klaus Peter and Doris. Eric fought for Germany in the First World War and was decorated. Else's father, Willi Fleischer, was a prominent German Jewish textile mill owner and Eric became the manager of his factory. On Kristallnacht, Eric was arrested and beaten along with other male family members. He was imprisoned for two weeks but released because of his war record. The Weyl family was forced to sell the textile factory to high Nazi officials, Guenter and Gerhard Jordan. Shortly after, they left Germany for Manchester, England where they lived with Eric's brother and reconnected with their children, Peter and Doris. In 1940, Eric was interned in the UK as a German alien, and later departed for the US. He found work as a textile engineer and consulted across the Southern US. Other Weyl and Fleischer family members also survived the Holocaust, either in hiding or outside Nazi Germany.
Klaus Peter Weyl (born May 6, 1924) lived in Reichenbach with his parents, Eric Weyl and Else Fleischer, and his sister, Doris. They were a religious family and regularly attended synagogue. In 1938, shortly after his Bar Mitzvah, Peter went to England to stay with his aunt and uncle; Doris followed on a Kindertransport; Else and her husband Eric arrived later that year. Peter went to Manchester Grammar School and was interned on his 16th birthday in 1940 in the UK as a German alien along with his father. The family eventually emigrated to the US where Peter joined the US Army and served during World War II as a translator in Germany. He later studied nuclear physics at the University of Chicago, gaining a PhD and becoming a Professor of Oceanography at SUNY Stony Brook. He married Muriel Reisman in 1948 and had three children.
Doris Weyl (born February 22, 1928) lived in Reichenbach with her parents, Eric Weyl and Else Fleischer, and her brother Peter. They were a religious family and regularly attended synagogue. In 1938, shortly after his Bar Mitzvah, Peter went to England to stay with his aunt and uncle; Doris followed on a Kindertransport; Else and her husband Erich arrived later that year. The family eventually emigrated to the United States. Doris married Paul Pickwick in 1950 and lived in Louisville, KY.
Else Fleischer (1904-1957) married Eric Weyl in 1923 in Reichenbach, Silesia. They had two children, Klaus Peter and Doris. Else's father, Willi Fleischer, was a prominent German Jewish textile mill owner and Eric became the manager of his factory. On Kristallnacht, the Weyl family was forced to sell the textile factory to high Nazi officials, Guenter and Gerhard Jordan. Shortly after, the couple left for Manchester, England where they lived with Eric's brother Paul and reconnected with their children who already left for England. In 1940, the family departed for the US, where they made North Carolina their home.
Scope and Content
Pan, city square with shops: "Gustav Böhm", possibly Wroclaw. Snowing. Clocktower (12:28pm). End 01:00:24 01:00:29 Side view, a woman walks towards the camera with a boy (possibly Helene Fleischer and grandchild Johannes) passing their home in the mountains. Snow. 01:01:07 INT, Else Weyl in a patterned shirt looking at a catalog. [VQ: film is scratched]. She smiles and waves for the camera. 01:01:18 INT, Eric Weyl reading a magazine in the same room, he lights a cigarette. End 01:01:28 01:01:32 Two men and a woman stand around an automobile with license plate "IK-78126 - D". The man with sunglasses is Eric Weyl; the couple may be Max and Hilla Hildebrandt. They operate a jack to fix a flat tire. Others watch from the road side. 01:01:55 A man, possibly Salo Schindler (an uncle of Peter Weyl), lounges in a chair outdoors. A different view of the Mercedes. Outside, a group of adults gather and dine, including Else Fleischer Weyl. 01:02:30 The man (Willi Fleisher?) and a boy (Peter Weyl? or Johannes?) hike. "Tannen-Baude" restaurant (maybe in Bronsdorf). The adults lounge on a grassy hill, reading. End 01:03:00 01:03:05 Woman (Else Fleischer Weyl?) dresses at the beach, possibly in the Friesian Islands where the family vacationed every summer. Pan, ship at sea with Weimar Republic flag. MS, pan of another ship with Soviet flag. End 01:04:19 01:04:20 Mountains. The group (one man and four women) dressed for winter exits a restaurant/café and climb into an automobile, perhaps on some driving tour. The standing man carries binoculars. Two local children observe the tourists. Another view of the mountains. End 01:06:06 01:06:12 INTs, a young girl selects toys from a table filled with items (and a decorated gingerbread house) during Christmas, probably in 1928. An older man (grandfather?) explains the toys to the children. EXT, LS, mountains. End 01:07:48 01:07:53 Toddler girl, Doris Weyl Pickwick, walks, crawls, plays in the garden of the family home in Reichenbach, Poland at Adama Mickiwicza 9 (the house still exists). Sandbox. Doris walks towards her smiling mother, Else Fleischer Weyl. Very brief shot of Doris, her brother Peter Weyl, and mother Else. End 01:08:52
Note(s)
Reichenbach in Lower Silesia was considered part of Germany before World War II. It is now in Poland and the town is callled Dzierzonow.
See files for a complete film condition and transfer report by Brodsky and Treadway. The six short films were transferred at 12 fps.
Willi Fleischer, was a prominent German Jewish textile mill owner in Reichenbach, Lower Silesia (now Dzierzonow, Poland) until 1938 when he was forced to sell his factory to the Nazis.
Subjects
- WINTER
- SNOW
- SHOPS
- JEWS
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- BEACHES
- FAMILIES
- SHIPS
- NEWSPAPERS
- MOUNTAINS
- CHILDREN (JEWISH)
- AUTOMOBILES
- VACATIONS
Places
- Reichenbach, Germany
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.