Two rare films by Jewish dancer and Holocaust survivor Roosje Glaser can be seen by everyone on the BrabantinBeelden website of the Brabant Historical Information Center (BHIC) in Den Bosch. According to the BHIC, these are unique images that were made during wartime. “You see young people full of zest for life while dark clouds float over their lives,” says Margot America of the BHIC.
The films can be viewed by everyone on the website BrabantinBeeldenthe images were previously stored at National Camp Vught. Paul Glaser, Roosje’s cousin, owns the films and has been committed to telling her story for years. He previously wrote books about her life and gives lectures.
“Paul wanted the films to be well preserved and in good condition,” says Margot America. The BHIC has a ‘cold depot’: a special storage facility for original, historical film material. “Films can be stored there well, with the right temperature and humidity. That is why the films are now housed with us.”
The true story of Roosje
Roosje, a dancer but also an amateur filmmaker and photographer, hid the images in the garden of her parental home on Koninginnelaan in Den Bosch in 1942. Just before she was to be deported. Until then she had a successful dance school.
Because she was Jewish, she was no longer allowed to teach dance. She had already had to give up her dance schools in Tilburg, Eindhoven and Helmond. But she did not let that stop her and secretly gave dance lessons in her attic in Den Bosch.
She was betrayed and ended up in various concentration camps such as Camp Vught and Auschwitz. She experienced the most terrible things, had to help with the gas chambers and underwent forced medical experiments.
“She continued to dance to continue to feel human.”
Fragments of the images have been shown before, but the complete films are unique. One of the films shows how Roosje ends the dance season with her dance company. They are going to the Loonse and Drunense Duinen, because it was no longer possible to rent a room in Den Bosch.
What you see are happy faces, dancing people and Roosje with a big smile. The film shows how, despite all the misery, Roosje and her students still manage to get fun out of life. “You see a young woman who didn’t let herself be told what to do. She wanted to move on with her life as far as possible.”
A second film shows Roosje’s dance lessons in the ‘illegal’ attic. The film from the spring of 1942 is full of instructions and clues about posture and different dance forms.
Despite all the misery, she continued to work on music and dance even in concentration camps. She wrote songs in Camp Vught, organized skits in Westerbork and gave dance lessons to SS men in Auschwitz. “She continued to dance and sing and even gave dance lessons to SS men to continue to feel human,” says America.
“It is a special story of someone who survived, a young woman in the prime of her life. So contradictory when you know what happened.”
After the war, Roosje ended up in Sweden where she has always lived. She passed away in 2000 at the age of 85.
