The Story Unfolds
Antwerp Pogrom 1941
In April 1941, a public screening of 'Der Ewige Jude' (The Eternal Jew') in Antwerp triggered a violent, state-sanctioned anti-Jewish riot. A mob armed with iron bars and other weapons marched on the Jewish quarter, looted and smashed windows of Jewish-owned shops and restaurants and harassed residents. They then set fire to two synagogues, burned Torah scrolls and prayer books in the street and attacked the home of the city's chief rabbi. The high rate of Jewish mortality and deportation in Antwerp has been partly attributed to the anti-Semitism and collaboration highlighted by this event.
The images here are from a Nazi propaganda film showing the looting and plundering of the of the Antwerp synagogue.
Fritz Todt and Albert Speer
The story of the Atlantic Wall is also the story of Organisation Todt, which Hitler called the 'greatest construction organisation of all time'. It was a vast Nazi engineering and building concern that exploited millions of slave labourers from occupied countries during WWII. Pictured here in the first two portrait photos is the organisation's founder, Fritz Todt, creator of Germany's first motorway network, appointed Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production. When he died in a mysterious plane crash in 1942, Albert Speer, pictured in the second two photographs, succeeded him.
Archive usually eats up a significant proportion of a film's budget so at the moment we're working hard to source images we can use for free.
Fritz Todt archive images:
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-146-01 / Röhn / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-146-02 / Röhn / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
Albert Speer archive images:
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1979-026-22 / Hoffmann / CC BY-SA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild, 146-1922-093-13A / Hubmann / CC BY-SA 3.0
Rob Bell and Dorien Styven
As part of his research for the first short film in our Atlantic Wall story, Rob Bell chatted with Dorien Styven at the Kazerne Dossin museum and research centre in Antwerp. As a result of this chat, Rob and director Graham will be travelling to the museum to access some of the incredible material - including firsthand accounts - in their collection.
Initial Development Chat with Rob Bell
This is the recording of Sarah's first conversation with Rob Bell. Here we explore Rob's passion for building a collection of films around The Atlantic Wall, what personally motivates him and where we think we should target our initial research.
