The Double Fragmentation of Theresienstadt

In this article I examine different levels of fragmentation of Theresienstadt. I will explain why there was a partial destruction of the film after the war – with only a third of its length surviving. I will contextualise the emergence of fragments of this film in 1960s Czechoslovakia and its anti-German propaganda campaigns directed against the FRG. In this context I discuss the discourse of fragmentation and how it influences our notion of the Holocaust. The article is a continuation of my 2016 publication “The Three Screenings of a Secret Documentary: Theresienstadt Revised” where I examined the film’s audiences in April 1945 as well as establishing the relations between the different stages of filming in 1942–44, revealing hitherto unknown names through an analysis of the production process. Both studies aim to reconstruct a fuller, and more truthful picture of the film – showing how the film’s Czechoslovak afterlife has influenced our reception to a higher degree than was assumed until now.