Medialism students delve into the history of Auschwitz

Remarkable drone images of a deserted Auschwitz. A thin layer of powdery snow covers the monument that symbolises the Nazi extermination camps. Whilst Auschwitz was liberated eighty years ago, Lotta Reekers, Toon Vlietstra, Jorrit Knol, Lukas Antol and Jungi Hong present their documentary Fear of the Unknown about Eugen Stoppelman, a German Jew who survived Auschwitz.

Text: Loes Vader

During the Medialism minor, students make a documentary or short film in six months. Eighty years after the liberation of the extermination camp, the five students delved into the history of Auschwitz. Led by Eugen Stoppelman, a German Jew who fled to Groningen in the hope of being safe from the Nazis. "These stories must continue to be told," says Jorrit. "Many young people no longer know what the Holocaust or Auschwitz is." The result of their research is the chilling documentary Fear of the Unknown.

Manuscript Stoppelman

The students wanted to tell the personal story of a survivor, but this proved difficult eighty years afterwards. They started their search in the Camp Westerbork Memorial Centre. From the archives of the Memorial Centre they received the manuscript of Eugen Stoppelman. "We thought it was such a bizarrely impressive story, we just had to tell it," Lotta notes. With the manuscript in their hands, the students were onto something. "Stoppelman wrote it just after the liberation," says Jorrit. "He was our age during the Second World War. That is also the reason why we wanted to tell his story to a younger audience."

Crowdfunding

The biggest challenge was to get permission to film in Auschwitz with a drone. "In the Netherlands, you are allowed to fly a drone of a certain weight class," Toon Vlietstra explains. "It's different abroad. They want to know everything about you. You have to fill in all kinds of forms, which takes a lot of time and money." Making the documentary was also a challenge financially. The students were able to raise the majority through crowdfunding. "The trip alone asked for a budget. Filming in Auschwitz too. The last bit is still open," says Lotta.

Snow

Toon Vlietstra's drone images play an important role in the film. He takes you over the barracks, along the railway line and miles of barbed wire. "It is extraordinary to have images that do not show people," says the drone pilot. "We were allowed to film very early, before the museum opened to the public. Only it snowed and then you can’t fly. Thank God it stopped snowing just in time and we had half an hour to film before visitors arrived." " It was meant to be," Jorrit adds. "The snow makes the images even more chilling."

Simon Gronowski

Stoppelman has died, but Lotta still met a survivor. On Facebook. Ninety-three-year-old Simon Gronowski survived the Holocaust because he managed to jump out of the train with the help of his mother. He was eleven years old at the time. "He still lectures worldwide and wanted to tell us his story. We were allowed to interview him in his hometown of Brussels."

The meeting with Gronowski touched the students' hearts and souls. Lotta: "In Auschwitz I walked behind the guide with my mouth wide open. But when you hear the story of someone who has witnessed it themselves, felt it themselves, experienced it themselves, it goes even deeper."

Telling the story

Making Fear of the Unknown has given the students a taste for more. Lotta: "That was also my motivation to take part in the minor. I really want to continue in the documentary world. This film confirms it. I had already done a minor, so I didn't get any credits for it." Toon and Jorrit also want to continue filming. Toon: "I'm quite familiar with filming itself. I chose this minor to tell a story. I had my doubts about that, but it worked out very well."

Bert Hadders

The music at the beginning and end of the documentary is by Bert Hadders. He wrote the song Dreumer five years ago, on the occasion of 75 years of liberation from the Germans. It is a fictional story about the Stoppelman family. "Bert Hadders was at the Medialism premiere in Forum, Groningen. He said: five years ago I didn't know what I was writing this song for, but now I do. It was for your documentary. A nice compliment," Lotta concludes.