“Film images from more than 80 years ago in color are very exceptional.” So says the Zaan historian Erik Schaap, who together with filmmaker Robert van Tellingen made a film of unique film images discovered about the Zaan region in the period 1939-1947. The one-hour film deals with wartime chronologically and in different themes and can be seen in the De Fabriek film theater in the near future.
Unique color image of a Jewish family that was undiscovered in the Zaan region. – NH News
In the beginning we see images of the preparation for the war in the Zaan region, where in the end there was never any fighting because the Netherlands surrendered after just four days in May 1940. Life went on after that. They worked and got married. Sports and ice skating took place in one of the harshest winters ever.
Innocent images at first sight, but according to Schaap, the tragedy of the war lies in the details. “A couple visiting friends. The man kisses his wife, they say goodbye and cycle off. And you can clearly see the Star of David on his jacket.” These are poignant images now that you know what happened to most Jews. “These are the only images from the Zaan region where you see someone with a Star of David. I get goosebumps when I look at it,” says Schaap.
“It’s just absurd that someone had to walk down the street so branded”
This also applies to the cheerful images of a Jewish family on the go. The family from Arnhem went into hiding in the Zaan region, was betrayed and only the youngest survived the war. We also see sharp film images in color from Westerbork where a Zaan Jewish carpenter builds a greenhouse for the camp commander together with others.
Resists
Schaap would also have liked to show images of the work of the resistance. But of course there are none because that had to be done in secret. However, attention is paid to the resistance with images of, among others, Walraven van Hall, the Zaandam banker and financier of the resistance. He did not survive the war and died three months before the liberation.
Liberation is also extensively discussed. Then it was possible to film freely again. The killed resistance fighters are fully honored after the war. Schaap: “The war never ends for the surviving relatives”. He does not expect this to be the last film with Zaanse images from the Second World War. “I have the idea that there is still quite a lot of material in archives and especially in attics.”
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