Golden age, Holocaust

Filmmaker focuses on Jewish culture

Norbert Blecha, Karl Blecha, Heinrich Dorner, descendants of the families and Franz Vranitzky (from left) in Kobersdorf.

(Bild: Karl Grammer)

Contemporary history that gets under your skin: "Today we are here to see a movie that makes you sad," said producer Norbert Blecha calmly at the premiere of "Lackenbach. My Kehillah". In the former Kobersdorf synagogue, he sent out a strong signal of life for Jewish culture.

The new Terra-Film documentary takes a profound look into a cruel past - when Lackenbach, once a thriving Jewish community, was brutally robbed of its great culture by the National Socialists. The end of a lively business center, characterized by a colourful mix of craftsmen, traders and farmers.

Vranitzky tells the story
Those who survived the Holocaust because they managed to flee abroad have their say in the film. And those who have deep roots in Lackenbach, such as former Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky and Provincial Councillor Heinrich Dorner. In the middle of it all: former Minister of the Interior Karl Blecha.

Crown attorney as a guest
Descendants from the Jewish community whose families came from Lackenbach, lived there and were expelled were guests. One of them is David Joseph. The mother of the later British Crown Prosecutor arrived in London from Lackenbach via Vienna on a Kindertransport. It was only very late in life that Joseph questioned the history of his family.

This was prompted by a photo of his Lackenbach family, none of whom he knew. Only gradually did this part of his own history come to light again.

Impetus for the documentary
Dan Saad, who now lives with his family in France, was also present at the documentary premiere. With his book about the Austro-Hungarian roots of his family tree, he provided the impetus for Blecha's documentary about the Jewish community of Lackenbach.

Norbert Blecha and Vranitzky welcomed the descendants of Jewish families who came from Lackenbach.

(Bild: Karl Grammer)

"It's good that we don't keep quiet about the past, but talk about it," Norbert Blecha remarked. The moving film ends with the names of those murdered - and the message to never allow something like this to happen again.

Fakten

Film producer Norbert Blecha was born in Vienna in 1950. In the early 1970s, he went to America, where he worked as a stuntman and actor in Hollywood. After twelve years, Blecha returned and founded the company Terra Film in St. Georgen. He is currently working again as an actor in a French production. In a film about Michael Jackson, the mime plays the pop icon's chauffeur, who "reflects on life while driving with him," says Blecha.