Licco Haim and friends on a late winter ski trip

Identifier
irn1005041
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2015.360.2
  • RG-60.1756
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Licco Max Haim (1910-2002), an amateur filmmaker, was asked by the military commander of the 4th Construction Company of the 1st (Jewish) Labor Battalion to make a film of their activities and deliver it to him. Licco did so, but managed to hide one 8mm roll (Film ID 4115), shot in the summer of 1941 to build a road in Lakatnik as part of the forced labor battalion. Most of the Jewish men in the unit had resided in Sofia, mostly in the neighborhood of Iuchbunar. After the summer of 1941, Licco was summoned to work on the repair of cars in Sofia, as he was expert as a mechanic. He married Berta on December 18, 1941.

Scope and Content

AGFA 8 1939. Title in Bulgarian with 1941 date, "Spring Snow on Maliovitsa" (a peak in the Rila mountains). A photo of the group of friends posing in ski clothing with names and the dates 22-25 March, Anny, Vasko, Shatsi, Licco, Ruska, Maria. Cross-country and downhill skiing on a mountain. Beautiful scenery. 01:11:20 Title with the group of named friends with the dates 5-7 April, Ruska, Vasko, Shatsi, and others. Additional skiing shots and mountain vistas, including the Rila monastery at 01:12:41. AGFA 8 1939 [8 distinguishes the film gauge of 8mm].

Note(s)

  • Anny could be the name of Licco's cousin who did the matchmaking between Licco and his wife Berta.

  • In early March 1941, Bulgaria joined the Axis alliance and, in April 1941, participated in the German-led attack on Yugoslavia and Greece. In return, Bulgaria received German authorization to occupy most of Greek Thrace, Yugoslav Macedonia, and Pirot County in eastern Serbia. Beginning in July 1940, Bulgarian authorities instituted anti-Jewish legislation that excluded Jews from public service, restricted their choice of places of residence, and restricted their participation in many occupations. However, during the war, German-allied Bulgaria did not deport Jews from the core provinces of Bulgaria. All male Bulgarian Jews were sent to forced labor camps in Bulgaria to build roads and bridges. In 1941, the Bulgarian military oversaw the labor camps and under their rule the treatment of Jewish nationals was harsh, but not completely unhuman. Males aged 20-46 were drafted. Later, the security forces took over managing the labor camps, and conditions worsened. Still, most of Bulgaria's Jews survived the war; in fact, the Jewish population remained the same as it was in 1939 (roughly 50,000), though almost 90% left the country by 1950.

Subjects

Places

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.