Ruth Beckermann

The renowned Austrian filmmaker and journalist Ruth Beckermann will visit UIC in the Fall semester from mid-September to mid-October. A central topos of the works of Ruth Beckermann, who was born and raised in the Jewish community of post-Shoah Vienna, is Jewish Vienna past and present, as for example in her books Die Mazzesinsel: Juden in der Wiener Leopoldstadt 1918-1938 (1984) and Unzugehörig: Österreicher und Juden nach 1945 (1989). Beckermann's documentary films Wien Retour (1983,) Die papierene Brücke (1987), and Homemade (2000) examine the Jewish past of Austria's capital in the larger Central European context and highlight existential choices faced by German-speaking Jews born after the Shoah. Beckermann subtly juxtaposes the remnants of Jewish life in Vienna and Eastern Europe with the legacy of Nazi ideology and Nazi crimes. In one of her most controversial films Jenseits des Krieges (1996) she documents reactions and attitudes of visitors at the much-debated exhibition Vernichtungskrieg. Verbrechen der Wehrmacht 1941 bis 1944 (War of Extermination. Crimes of the German Wehrmacht), which took place at the Vienna Alpenmilchzentrale in fall of 1995. Beckermann has contributed to the critical Austrian web page "SOS-Mitmensch" supporting human rights. Dr. Beckermann's visit is supported by a grant of the Max Kade Foundation and co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Austria.