The documentary „We were so beloved“ by Manfred Kirchheimer, shot in Washington Heights, New York, portrays German and Austrian emigrants who fled the Holocaust and formed a new community there, who shared memories but processed their traumatic experiences in different ways . His friend Walter Hess from Ruppichteroth not only worked behind the camera on the film, but was also a protagonist together with his mother Melitta and his cousin Ilse Gärtner.
In the documentary, Walter Hess and his mother reported on the disturbing and humiliating experiences during the pogrom night of November 10, 1938 and their father’s subsequent deportation to Dachau. While the son could not imagine forgiving the Germans, Melitta Hess believed that it was not easy for her former neighbors and friends to evade or even resist National Socialism.
In 1987, the german TV channel ZDF showed an abridged and partly dubbed version of the film.
In 2018, Walter Hess published his memories in the book „A Refugee’s Journey, A Memoir“.
Timeline Rosbach/Sieg
- ↑ Inauguration of the “Landjuden an der Sieg” memorial in Windeck-Rosbach – August 28, 1994
- ↓ Return of the Seligmann family from Argentina to Rosbach – November 1, 1957