Episode 19
Out of the blue, I received an email from an archivist in Amsterdam.
“Is Franze Levy a person known to you?”, asked Jan Blom.
An item belonging to Franze was found in a desk drawer, in a water pumping station just outside Amsterdam. It had been handed to Jan Blum who was the archivist for Amsterdam’s water board.
The item was an artist’s folder containing her name. Jan found my name linked to Franze’s on Altenburg’s website, where they highlighted my attendance at the memorial on November 9th 2008.
This was the start of Jan Blum’s interest in the family who had been trapped in Nazi occupied Holland. He had been, in any case, working on an exhibition of the Waterboard’s role in the war years. Jan became dedicated to finding what he could about the family in Holland. At a time when I was turning over every stone to piece together their story, I was blessed to have Jan apply his professional skills to the family story. Through him, for example, came Franze’s Gestapo records via a contact in Munich.
I finally got to meet Jan in 2015 when I was making a short film about the family. Amsterdam Water board were kind in supporting my idea to film at the pumping station. I flew, with two crew, on a day return from Bristol to Amsterdam and two of their employees met us at Skipol airport. They brought a picnic for us all as the building was in the middle of nowhere.
Flying EasyJet with a lot of film kit was a stressful way to start a long day, and the van we were picked up in barely took it and us, but we arrived at the pumping house intact and on schedule. I had brought a leather jacket and smart clothes to change into, but the wind and pump house were so cold, that easily trumped the notion of looking good on camera. An agitated guard dog in the neighbourhood and a crowing cockerel made it interesting trying to film outside.
In terms of filming inside the pumping house, I will leave the 12 minute film to speak for itself.
The film ends as German artist, Gunter Demnig, lays blocks in the pavement for each of the family who were forced to flee their home in Altenburg in the 1930’s.
Gunter Demnig at work
The blocks are called Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) and commemorate people who were persecuted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. They are concrete blocks measuring 10x10cm, which are laid into the pavement in front of the last voluntarily chosen place of residence of the victims of the Nazis. Their names and fate are engraved into a brass plate on the top of each Stolperstein. As of December 2019, 75,000 Stolpersteine have been laid, making the Stolpersteine project the world's largest decentralized memorial.
All twelve members of the family who were forced to flee their home are remembered outside their home with a Stolpersteine. I share the stones of those murdered in camps:
Lore, Renata, Franze and Albert Levy
Marianne Bucky and ‘Tante Bienchen’ Philippine Cohn.
Their memories are a blessing 🌿
I am grateful to Alice on camera, who pumped herself up with numerous shots of espresso en route to Amsterdam, and sound man Julian who was armed with sweets for both legs of the film shoot. And special thanks to Jan Blum for the extraordinary interest and hours he has given to finding out about the family’s life in Holland.
This is the last episode of the family story, for now, but I will email out future additions to the story, and development of it, as they arise.
❤️ Thank you, to you, the readers, who have kept me company on a story, which has been quite hard to finish.
I am currently writing about individuals who financed Hitler from his beginnings in the early 1920’s, with references to current affairs. You should have the first part in your in box, and the second part will be out soon.
Enjoy the film.