Introduction
ZAKHOR! REMEMBER!
As a society, we must not forget the lessons we have learnt from the past. The substance of our democracies and civic education depend on it. Willy Perelsztejn and his sister Diane have dedicated their professional lives to developing tools that help people understand the past.
In over 35 years of audiovisual production, the group Les Films de la Mémoire – Création & Mémoire – Nowhere Land Productions has created a legacy of films dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust, the resistance and the survivors: PATRIMOINE.
PATRIMOINE currently consists of 16 films available in HD quality that can be screened on numerous media. They are already available free of charge to teachers in Belgium on La Plateforme.be (Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de Belgique), along with a catalog of educational and thematic sheets.
Of course, we are not the only ones who have worked on these topics. We hope that over time we will be able to include films from other directors and audiovisual production companies in our toolkit.
OBJECTIVES
The Holocaust is a very important and at the same time difficult topic to convey. For over 35 years, we have produced numerous films, documents and exhibitions on various topics: Genocide, Jewish resistance, death, survival and resilience. In short: PATRIMOINE.
As a first step, our main objective is to provide the entire educational community with a high-quality tool for a comprehensive and diverse approach to the Holocaust and its context. Initially in Belgium and Luxembourg in French language.
Our second objective is to ensure that these films and our tools are accessible and used by as many people as possible in Europe and the rest of the world.
We want to help ensure that our past is not forgotten and to anchor the basic ideas of democracy and freedom.
The Collection
Ashcan The Secret Prison
2018
This is the story of a unique prison. From May 8, 1945 to August 10, 1945, the main Nazi leaders were held in the greatest secrecy at Ashcan, a prison administered by the American army in Luxembourg: Goering, Doenitz, Keitel, Rosenberg, Ley, Frank, Streicher, Seyss-Inquart, Lutz von Krosigk, von Papen…
Topics: World War II, Nazi Regime, Prison, Nazi Dignitaries, Testimony, Theater
Codename: Ashcan
2020
From May 8, 1945 to August 10, 1945, the main Nazi leaders were held at Ashcan, a secret prison in Luxembourg. This is the story of the metamorphosis of Nazi leaders from mere prisoners of war to those accused of the worst crimes in human history.
Topics: World War II, Nazi Regime, Prison, Nazi Dignitaries, Testimony, Theater
Concert Yiddish Soul
2006
The Concert Yiddish Soul on March 16, 2005 in Brussels embodies the renaissance of Yiddish song. Hosted by Myriam Fuks, Karsten Troyke, Shura Lipovsky and the KlezRoym revive an almost forgotten art form. Concert Yiddish Soul goes hand in hand with Yiddish Soul.
Topics: Music, Songs, Yiddish Jewish Culture, Concerts, Europe
David Susskind
Story of a Mensch
2007
Story of a Mensch is the portrait of David Susskind, player and witness to all the great struggles of Judaism over the last 60 years for Israel, for secular Judaism, for a solution of Peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Topics: Portrait, Secular Judaism, Activism, Communism, Shoah Remembrance
Escape to the Rising Sun
1990
20,000 Jews fled Nazi persecution to find refuge in Shanghai, China. The film tells the story of the long exodus of 5,000 Jews who crossed the entire USSR and Japan before finally finding refuge in Shanghai.
Topics: World War II, Shoah, Exile, Shanghai, Ghetto
From Auschwitz to Jerusalem
1998
This is the story of Jewish children hidden in Belgium to survive the genocide. After the war, they were orphaned and taken in by the Jewish Agency. They left clandestinely to emigrate to Palestine.
Topics: Belgium, Hidden Children, Shoah, Judaism, Home, Travel, World War II
Heim ins Reich
2004
Heim ins Reich (“Back to the Reich”), recounts the failure of the annexation of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1944.
Topics: Second World War, Luxembourg, Occupation, Resistance, Collaboration, Shoah, Personal History
Just A Link
2003
A unique message of humanism and humanity from Resistance fighter Andrée Geulen. The story of 12 women from the Comité de Défense des Juifs, how they organized themselves in occupied Belgium to save thousands of children.
Topics: World War II, Belgium, Portrait, Shoah, Hidden Children, Resistance, Committee for the Defence of Jews
Modus Operandi
2008
Between 1942 and 1944, 24,916 Jewish men, women and children were deported from Belgium to Auschwitz. Only 1,206 returned. Modus Operandi describes the operating mode of the genocide committed by the Nazis.
Topics: Belgium, Shoah, Repression, Occupation, Testimonies, World War II
The Paper Brigade
2018
Saving the books! During the Nazi occupation of Vilnius, Lithuania, 40 Jewish poets, writers and intellectuals risked their lives to fight the Shoah of culture. They succeeded in saving tens of thousands of books.
Topics: World War II, Vilna, Shoah, Occupation, Resistance, Yiddish Culture, Ghetto, Books
Paul & Sophie
2013
Sophie Rechtman and Paul Sobol are two survivors of the Holocaust, she a hidden child and he a deportee to Auschwitz. Both tell their stories.
Topics: World War II, Belgium, Shoah, Hidden Children, Deportations, Auschwitz, Testimonies
Rhodes Forever
1995
It’s a contemporary portrait, weaving imaginary family ties between the Jews of Rhodes and their descendants. The film recounts the survival of this community marked by the Shoah and its revival in the Belgian Congo.
Topics: Jewish Community, Sephardic Jews, Rhodes, Migration, World War II, Shoah, Deportation, Testimonies
Royals at War
2020
Confronted with Hitler and Mussolini, how will Europe’s monarchs react? To save their throne, they had to make a choice: resist or collaborate.
Topics: World War II, Europe, Monarchies, Resistance, Collaboration
Siegi Hirsch
Weaving Human Relations
2005
Siegi Hirsch has had a major influence on European psychiatry and psychotherapy. Educator, trainer, therapist, he lives to help others live better. He’s a thief of ideas, an “irreferent”!
Topics: Portrait, Shoah, Auschwitz, Resilience, Therapist, Psychologist
Victor Martin's Mission
2000
October 1942, Victor Martin is sent by the Belgian resistance to Germany to see with his own eyes where the trains deporting Belgium’s Jews go. His mission takes him to the gates of Auschwitz.
Topics: Belgium, Deportation, Shoah, Resistance, Espionage, World War II
Yiddish Soul
2006
Yiddish Soul is a journey to the heart of the renaissance of Yiddish song, through the passion of Karsten Troyke, Shura Lipovsky, and the KlezRoym, young European artists.
Topics: Music, Songs, Yiddish Jewish Culture, Concerts, Europe