Simon and Eva Mahler visit their family in Krosno, Poland
Creator(s)
- Warren J. Blumenfeld
- Simon Mahler (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Szymon (Simon) Mahler (1893-) was one of thirteen siblings. His parents, Wolf and Bascha Mahler, owned a butcher shop in Krosno, Poland. Simon left Krosno for New York in 1912. He married Eva Schoenwetter (1894-) in 1921. Their children were born in New York: Jack (b. 1922), Blanche (b. 1924), and Charles (b. 1926). Many of Simon's family members in Krosno were murdered during the Holocaust. The Jewish population of Krosno numbered 1725 in 1921. German troops entered Krosno on September 9, 1939. In August 1942, Jews were ordered to ghettos and later sent to Auschwitz or Belzec. Some were able to survive by hiding in Polish homes or the forest.
Scope and Content
Simon and Eva Mahler on board a transatlantic ship to Europe on their way to Simon's hometown in Krosno, Poland. The American couple poses for the camera and play ball. Boys wave an American flag. 00:02:20 Men in Krosno, Poland. Mahler family members and friends pose for the camera. 00:03:02 Daily life in Krosno's market square, later referred by Nazi troops as "Horse Square." Quick circular pans of the busy marketplace and the American relatives. Kids ride tricycles. Family members walk along the sidewalk. 00:05:39 Wolf and Bascha Mahler, Simon's parents, in the courtyard behind their family shop and apartment, making faces at the camera. Various family members gather and pose for the Simon's home movie camera. A group of men, including Moses and David Mahler, walk down the sidewalk in front of the family apartment. 00:06:41 Shmuel Fuehrer on the left stands next to a group of women, and then with a group of men. Shmuel was the first and only Rabbi of Krosno. He was the head of the Jewish judicial council and consecrated Krosno's Jewish Cemetery. He was later forced out of the synagogue and shot by the Nazis. 00:07:01 More Mahler family group shots. 00:07:10 Eva walks down the sidewalk outside of the Mahler apartment. She walks towards the camera and acts humorously. 00:07:28 A group of women with flower bouquets gather in a car in Krosno surrounded by local civilians. 00:08:06 Close-ups and pan of vendors in Krosno's market square, shops, wagons, merchants. 00:09:55 "Kosher" in Hebrew painted on a shop's shutters, sign at left: "Spozywczych - Zucker". Marketplace.
Subjects
- JEWS
- SHIPS
- KOSHER
- POLES
- MARKETS
- FLOWERS
- VILLAGES
- AUTOMOBILES
- POLAND
- SHOPS
- FAMILIES
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- HEBREW
- RABBIS
- FLAGS (AMERICAN)
Places
- Krosno, Poland
- , Atlantic Ocean
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film