Licco Haim and friends at leisure in Spring 1940
Creator(s)
- Licco Max Haim (Camera Operator)
- Mr. Salvator Haim
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 1940. Handwritten title "Früjahr 1940". Title with 5 May date and names, "Panagiurishte" (a town in central Bulgaria). The friends - Paula, Hans, Kete, Anny, Fredy, Anny, and Licco, playfully goof-off, dance, and play games outside. 01:01:02 Licco with a girlfriend. CUs. 01:05:56 Title with 12 May date and names, "Petrohan" (a passage in the West Balkan mountains). The friends, Anny, Fredy, Kete, Hans, Zdravka, Paula, Anny, and Licco, play on a grassy hillside near their car. 01:09:41 Licco on top of the car, jumping. 01:10:00 Title with 9 June date and names, "On the Liulin Mountain" (near Sofia). At the beach, Paula, Hans, Kete, Loli, Licco, and Anny take turns exercising and dancing on a hill top. Car maneuvers on a dirt road. 01:16:41 Title with 17 June date, "Ribaritsa" (a village in northern Bulgaria) with Anny, Kete, Paula, Licco, and Hans. A man followed by the rest of the group wades across a stream during a hike. 01:18:06 Anny, Kete, and Paula. Licco at 01:20:49 in the water. Dressed in swimsuits, the friends play in fields. AGFA 8 1940 [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
- BULGARIA
- SPORTS/GAMES
- BEACHES
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- JEWS
- SUMMER
- FORESTS
- FAMILIES
Places
- , Bulgaria
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film