Jewish children at play in Reichenbach and at the beach
Creator(s)
- Eric Weyl (Camera Operator)
- Doris Weyl (Subject)
- Ruth Geall
- Else Weyl (Subject)
- Peter Weyl (Subject)
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
Peter (age 4 or 5) plays with a set of tin soldiers and a toy castle at home in Reichenbach. Peter's younger sister, Doris, waves. She sits in a high chair, and plays with blocks of wood. She and her brother play with a wooden clown doll. Doris in a crib, she reads a picture book. INT, Doris next to a window. 01:01:38 Peter is outside digging in a sandbox (at their home in Reichenbach at Adama Mickiwicza 9 - the house still exists), he has a scooter. Doris plays in a playpen outdoors, Peter joins her and they play. Mother Else helps Doris walk by holding her hands up. Doris sits alone on a blanket outside, trying to put on her shoes. Mother helps Doris, she cries. Peter kneels on the blanket. Doris crawls around on the lawn and approaches a woman (nanny?) in a chair. She plays in the sandbox. A lady feeds her. Peter helps Doris walk. More shots of baby Doris, unclothed and trying to walk. She eats with brother Peter, see-saw in the BG. Doris stands in a puddle in the sandbox, joined by a friend in a swimsuit, and Peter. Doris finds a toy truck, and says hi to another woman in printed dress.. 01:05:31 At the beach, Doris walks around with a flag, there is a donkey in BG. She has a watering can and a stick. Doris in a one-piece swimsuit plays by the ocean. She plays with other family members. Peter and the boy with blond-hair walks towards the shoreline, a sailboat in the distance, the young boys play in the ocean. Doris sits in the sand and plays with toys, mother? digs a hole in the sand. They continue to play in the sand and surf. 01:08:05 Four kids, including Peter and Doris, sit in front of a tent, dressed up as Indians, playing. Mock battle involving toy tomahawk, and tying a child up to a pole. 01:09:25 Doris wades in a lake, Peter with a ball. The children play in the water, pine trees surround the beach, adults lounge on the sand. 01:10:20 Back at the ocean, the Weyl kids play on the beach. A woman in a scouting outfit approaches the camera. CU, Doris looks out at the ocean through binoculars. A woman builds a sandcastle for Peter. He plays in the sand with Doris. Father Eric wearing sunglasses rests on a beach lounger. They all dig a hole in the sand.
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.
Subjects
- HOUSES
- JEWS
- CAMERAS
- CHILDREN (JEWISH)
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- FAMILIES
- WOMEN
Places
- Reichenbach, Germany
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.