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‘Alfred Hitchcock and the Holocaust’ Lost Film to be Shown at The Museum of Jewish Heritage

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Sidney Bernstein served as the Chief of the Film Division of the Psychological Warfare Division of the Allied Expeditionary Force
Allied Forces Photography Unit cameraman Sgt Mike Lewis filming at the Bergen-Belsen death camp
Pain etched on the faces of Holocaust survivors after the Allied forces liberation of the concentration camps as seen in the film ‘German Concentration Camps Factual Survey’
Independent documentary filmmaker Jane Wells, the daughter of Sidney Bernstein is pictured here as a toddler with her father’s close friend, Alfred Hitchcock
Film poster
Smiling children through barbed wire’ – taken by Sgt Mike Lewis on 19-20 April 1945

The release of “German Concentration Camps Factual Survey” coincides with the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen

On Tuesday evening, May 19th at 7pm, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present a film of historic magnitude on the atrocities of the Holocaust. Unlike other films of this genre that were produced, ‘German Concentration Camps Factual Survey’ was intentionally shelved by the psychological warfare division of the British government and has not been seen publicly since the end of World War II.

The original intent of the British government was to have this film screened in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich and shown to German prisoners of war wherever they were held. It was ordered to be made in April of 1945 by ISHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force).

Left unfinished at the end of September of 1945 , the film, which includes original and nuanced footage of the multifarious atrocities that were perpetrated in the such camps as Bergen-Belsen , Auschwitz and Buchenwald subsequent to their liberation has now been digitally restored. Much of the film’s footage was shot by combat and newsreel cameramen accompanying Allied troops.

The film was eventually released by the British Imperial War Museum. In December of 2008, the IWM team began work to restore the film. Laboring assiduously on this project were Dr Toby Haggith, George Smith, Andrew Bullas and David Walsh who investigated whether the sequences for reel six, as described in the original shot list, could be found among the 100 component reels of unedited footage, deposited with the rough-cut in 1952.

The genesis of this graphic and jarring documentary surrounded around a man would become an icon of British television and film. Having served as the Chief of the Film Division of the Psychological Warfare Division of the Allied Expeditionary Force and as a British Colonel, Sidney Lewis Bernstein was tasked with producing the film. It was then that he tapped acclaimed filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock for assistance. Bernstein described Hitchcock as the film’s ‘director’, but given that all the footage had been shot prior to Hitchcock’s month-long involvement on the project and that he was not in England to oversee the editing of the rough-cut, it is more accurate to retrospectively describe him as the treatment advisor.

Bernstein’s connections to Hitchcock dated back to 1925 when he co-founded the London Film Society. It was there that Bernstein met and befriended the young Hitchcock, who became a lifelong friend and eventual producing partner.

Jane Wells, an Emmy nominated independent documentary filmmaker and daughter of Sidney Bernstein recalls her father’s participation in the film.

“My father never spoke of what he personally witnessed in such concentration camps as Bergen-Belsen and the others that were liberated by the allies but I know that the gruesome scenes that he encountered stayed with him for his entire life,” says Ms. Wells, the founder of “3 Generations” – a non-profit film production company that concentrates on documentary films about oppressed peoples.

While speaking to the Jewish Voice from a fracking rig near an Indian reservation in North Dakota while shooting a new film, Ms. Wells recalls, “My father told me that the British film unit arrived at Bergen-Belsen on the day of liberation in April of 1945 and this film documents the process of what happened to the survivors of this camp in the moments, hours and days after liberation.”

“There are such beautiful and moving scenes in the film; images that are forever etched in our minds. We see female survivors taking their first hot shower in years; washing their hair. It is all very intimate and speaks volumes about what they endured in this hellish nightmare,” she added.

The small but distinguished expert team that Bernstein had assembled to work on the project not only included the iconic Hitchcock but renowned editors Stewart McAllister and Peter Tanner as well as writers Colin Wills and Richard Crossman.

Little did anyone know at the time, Bernstein, later in his career would become the founding chairman of the London-based Granada Group and the founder of the Manchester-based Granada Television in 1954.

“Bernstein and his colleagues realized how important this film was to make,” said Bruce Ratner, Chairman of the Trustees Board of the Museum of Jewish Heritage and founder and executive chairman of Forest City Ratner.

“They were profoundly shocked and mortified when they actually saw the devastation that had been wrought at these camps. They possessed a great deal of prescience and knew that years later the world would never believe that the Nazi machine could ever perpetrate this kind of genocide and they were determined to memorialize it; to bear witness to it,” said Ratner with palpable emotion reverberating in his voice.

Ratner describes the sheer brilliance of Hitchcock’s directorial style. “In addition to organizing the film and guiding it in the way it should be compiled, Hitchcock also utilized long, panning shots that sometimes took several moments. He captured wide shots of the camps, so that these painful images would be eternally seared in our collective consciences. He just knew that people would vigorously dispute the veracity of this mass slaughter.”

Not only did American and British news associations take footage of the camps, but Ratner said the Soviets also played a significant role. “The Soviets took a lot of footage and that’s why the film took longer to produce. The Soviets were not forthcoming in offering the footage,” he ruefully observed.

Due to the onset of the Cold War and a divided Germany, Ratner speculates that the possible reason that the decision was made to jettison the film was because, “the British government wanted to win over the German people and did not want to alienate their government.”

According to a statement released to the media, the film encountered difficulties from its inception. “There were a number of problems including the practical difficulties of international co-operation and the realities of post-war shortages. These issues delayed the film long enough to be overtaken by other events including the completion of two other presentations of concentration camp footage to the German people and the evolution of occupation policy, where the authorities no longer considered a one-hour compilation of atrocity material appropriate.”

In 1952, the IWM inherited a mute rough-cut of the film, along with 100 compilation reels of unedited footage of atrocitie. IWM also acquired a script for the voice-over commentary and a detailed shot list for the complete film.

“In 1984 or 85, the story of this film was declassified by the British government and two versions were of the film became available in broader release, “ said Ms. Wells. Granada TV in Britain released a 1985 version entitled, “A Painful Reminder” and showed never before seen footage along with “interviews with survivors and cameramen” added Ms. Wells.

Another version of this film, known as Memory of the Camps, was first shown at the Berlin Film Festival thirty years ago in 1984 (pre-digitization and without the sixth reel). This version was also screened in 1985; the five reels were broadcast on Frontline, part of the WGBH Boston PBS network. The commentary was read by actor Trevor Howard.

“Earlier this year HBO presented a documentary about the film called “Night Will Fall” and it consisted of original footage says Ms. Wells. The film examines the production of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey and was directed by Andre Singer for Spring Films and Angel TV.

IWM discovered all the scenes listed for the sixth reel of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey except for two maps, one of which has now been especially created. As well as completing the film, IWM revisited the original masters and component reels used in the first five reels, digitally scanning these and assembling the whole film from scratch. This work, which IWM describes as both a restoration and a completion, was carried out in collaboration with Dragon DI – a digital post production company in Wales, UK.

“German Concentration Camps Factual Survey is of great historical importance – as a record of the atrocities, the concentration camps and of Allied policy on how this subject might be used as a powerful weapon of propaganda in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich,” said Diane Lees, IWM’s Director-General.

“I am full of awe for the level of integrity, accuracy, authenticity and respect with which IWM restored and completed German Concentration Camps Factual Survey….I am thrilled that the exceptional work of the soldier-filmmakers is finally being recognized and really proud and moved that my father’s vision is finally complete,” said Ms. Wells in a statement to the media.

The original commentary has been re-recorded with the voice of actor Jasper Britton and an effects track created, blending the existing synch sound recordings made at Belsen with authentic Army Film and Photographic Unit recordings made on the battlefields of NW Europe (1944-45), which are held in IWM’s collection.

German Concentration Camps Factual Survey received its world premiere at the 64th Berlin Film Festival in February 2014 and its UK premiere at the 58th BFI London Film Festival in October 2014. The film has also been shown at festivals in Jerusalem, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Sydney and at the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance. The film runs for 88minutes with English and German with English subtitles.

On the evening of the film’s New York premiere, a post-screening discussion with Roger Cohen columnist for The New York Times, along with Jane Wells, daughter of Sidney Bernstein will be held. It will be moderated by Dr. Stuart Liebman, Professor Emeritus, CUNY Graduate Center

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