Wednesday talk about the film „Das Haus in der Auguststraße“

In the 1920s, children from poor families and orphans from Eastern Europe lived in the Jewish children’s home Beit Ahawah (House of Love) in Berlin’s Auguststraße. Under the management of „Sister Superior“ Beate Berger, it became a well-known educational institution. After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the director quickly realised that there was no future for her charges in Germany. She therefore decided to move the home to Palestine, saving the lives of more than 100 children.

In her book „Ahawah heißt Liebe“ (Munich, dtv, 2006), Ayelet Bargur has reconstructed this story, which is also her family history: she is Beate Berger’s great-grandniece and her family comes from Bad Breisig near Cologne. In her search for clues, she interviewed contemporary witnesses, collected numerous documents, letters and photos and combined them to create a personal, multifaceted and lively lesson in German-Jewish history.

In her documentary film„Das Haus in der Auguststraße“ (Israel 2007, 63 min), the former children have their say, some of whom are now over 90 years old and live in Berlin and Israel; they talk about life in the home, the preparations for emigration and the adventurous and dangerous move to Haifa in the 1930s.

Ayelet Bargur, born in San Francisco in 1969, lives in Israel. She studied film and art studies as well as film directing and production at Tel Aviv University. Her documentaries and feature films critically reflect daily life in Israel and have been honoured with important awards and shown at international festivals. Ayelet Bargur received a scholarship from the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme for her research on the film and book project „Ahawah heißt Liebe“. „The House On August Street“ received the „Second Prize for Best Documentary“ at the Haifa International Film Festival in 2007 and the „Grand Prix for Documentary“ from CIRCOM in 2008.

Series of events: „We need, need, need to talk“, funded by „Demokratie leben!“

An event organised by the Fritz Bauer Forum in conjunction with the Evangelische Stadtakademie Bochum.