Jun 21, 2007, I started pioneering at YouTube, creating Channel012. The first YouTube video ‘Fire Breather’ was shot at a 4:3 aspect ratio (640×480 pixels) and produced at a 16:9 aspect ratio with black bars for my first YouTube upload on Dec 30, 2007.
Unlisted ‘Fire Breather • 2nd Edition’
Next a 2nd edition of ‘Fire Breather’ was produced at the original 4:3 aspect ratio, and uploaded the next month, Jan 18, 2008. YouTube displayed that 2nd edition at a higher quality. Sometime later though I decided to change visibility of that 2nd edition to ‘unlisted’ in order to preserve and favor the 1st edition views count.
Lost Forgotten Film
More recently that forgotten unlisted 2nd edition video appeared to be lost somehow…until I learned today that YouTube had changed visibility in 2021 of all unlisted videos uploaded before 2017 to ‘private’ automatically for security reasons with a worldwide system change.
Today I changed visibility at YouTube of that 2nd edition (video shown above) to public.
Dutch stamp (TNT Post) using lenticular-technology – premiere 29 sep 2010 – with the 30 frames – 1 sec – ‘Smallest Shortest Film’ (original title Kleinste Kortste Film) made in 2010 by director photographer Anton Corbijn staring Carice van Houten from an idea by Erik Kessels from communications agency KesselsKramer on the occasion of 30th anniversary of the Dutch Film Festival NFF. New edit of film first posted as Smallest shortest film | 20220715 | 1-memo•com. TAGS #premiere #film #short #small #KleinsteKortsteFilm #AntonCorbijn #CariceVanHouten #ErikKessels #DutchFilmFestival #SmallestShortestFilm #NederlandsFilmFestival #NFF #Holland #KesselsKramer #lenticular #stamp
Citation info : Smallest shortest film • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • @1MEMO 20250506 • TakeNode 70b378b6-afe0-4330-a7c1-1db86398d410
From Buchenwald to Hollywood, The Robert Clary Story : The Documentary (Extended Version) • 20250419 • A film by Karen and Richard Bloom and Michel van der Burg
Today 80 years ago , April 19, 1945 – the Buchenwald band ‘Rhythmus’ – with Jiří Žák & Robert Clary – gave a jazz concert in the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald for their comrades and US soldiers that liberated the camp .
We , today, present the extended version of our Robert Clary documentary, now featuring also Robert Clary’s desire that Jiří Žák be nominated as a Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem…
Almost certainly, three Jewish people have been recognized in the unique Westerbork film from 1944 (1). This time it concerns the 9-year-old boy Israël Wijnschenk, his father Max Wijnschenk, and his grandmother Betje Kokernoot-van Furth, who all lived in Utrecht (Holland).
Last week, the Dutch public broadcaster NOS (2) reported the news from the Utrecht (Dutch) news site Nieuws030 (3) that it is very likely that three people were recognized again in this film made by the Jewish prisoner and filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer showing the deportation of Jews, Roma and Sinti by train in Camp Westerbork on May 19, 1944.
Image researcher Koen Hulsbos — who previously identified an Amsterdam couple in this deportation train (4) — thought he recognized the young Israël Wijnschenk, a pupil at the time of the Joodse (Jewish) School Utrecht, and presented this to Victor Frederik, researcher of the Joodse School (5,6). The boy, the man, and the woman seem to belong together, and were recognized from family photos, also by family members.
It is certain that Max and his wife Chel (not in the images) returned to Utrecht after the war, their children Israël and his sister Kitty were murdered. Grandma Betje was also gassed in Auschwitz.
A portrait of Israël Wijnschenk is shown at the site of Joods Monument (7).
According to the transport list, there were two other children in that wagon, Joseph Beugeltas (11 years old) and Manfred Studzinsky (7 years old). Joseph Beugeltas appeared to have blond hair, and could not have been it (6). To be completely sure, the researchers are still looking for a photo of Manfred Studzinsky, for comparison…
The Dutch national broadcaster NOS (1) and the local RTV Drenthe (2) reported this morning (23 Dec 2024) that 2 more people have been recognized in the Westerbork film.
It is the Amsterdam couple Marcus Pels and Hendrika Brandon. They were identified by the image researcher Koen Hulsbos – volunteer working at the Behind the Star project of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies .
The Jewish photographer and filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer, while a prisoner in the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands, was commissioned by camp commander Albert Gemmeker to make film recordings for the Westerbork film in the spring of 1944, featuring images of a deportation train.
The NOS broadcast referred to images in the first published Westerbork film (3)The film can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube. After just under 5 minutes 🔗 a man with a hat can be seen looking into the camera with a smile, and next to him a woman with black, slightly wavy hair can be seen from behind. The same couple appears again at 6 minutes 🔗 . It turned out to be the Amsterdam couple Marcus Pels and Hendrika Brandon.
Pels & Brandon Clip 1 & 2
Also available on YouTube is the more recent second Westerborkfilm (4). This 2021 edition has the recently found original camera rolls of the deportation transport (Reel E198), with higher quality images of the couple.
Hulsbos had already had photos of Marcus Pels and Hendrika Brandon in his collection of images of prisoners who were transported on that day – May 19, 1944 – when Breslauer films the deportation of Jews, Roma and Sinti to Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz.
“I’ve seen the film many times, but at one point I thought, ‘Hey, this couple is on screen twice.’ I had never really noticed that before,” says Hulsbos.
Hulsbos then compared the film footage with his photos. “And then I thought: that’s it,” says the amateur film historian.
Marcus Pels was murdered immediately after arriving in Auschwitz. Hendrika Brandon survived the war, as did their daughter and son, who were in hiding with a foster family. Katy (Keetje, 86 years old) and Philip (83) are still alive and live in Canada. They were shown the film footage and confirmed that they were their parents.
“They don’t remember their father. So to actually see images of him, to see him just walking around alive, there are no words to describe it,” granddaughter Lisa Kaufman said as a family spokesperson. “It was very special to see my grandmother, who I grew up with.”
Anonym | Girl with the headscarf …
In the Westerbork film, Hendrika looks at the woman on the stretcher, who was recognized in the 1990s through her suitcase as Frouwke Kroon, and thus was the key to identifying this transport and thus also to the name of the anonymous girl with the headscarf between the wagon doors – Settela (5,6).
Deportation Breslauer family
Earlier this year it was reported that filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer had also filmed two of his children , Stefan , and Ursula Breslauer in the Westerborkfilm at the farm (7).
Werner Rudolf Breslauer , his wife Bella Weihsmann, sons Stefan and Max Michael (Mischa), and daughter Ursula were deported later in 1944 from Westerbork to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. Only Ursula survived.
October 15, 2024 — Watch free online the full documentary “The Jews of Corfu” – a film by Mirjan Gjergjevica & Maria Boua (1) .
Documentary “The Jews of Corfu” – a film by Mirjan Gjergjevica & Maria Boua
The Jews of Corfu – Review
The Jews of Corfu – a population group that was an important part of the island, contributed to the formation of its history. But the tragic events that befell them were added to the black page of human history. The film The Jews of Corfu (2021) is a powerful documentary by Mirjan Gjergjevica (direction, cinematography, editing, production) & Maria Boua (script, music, sound, production) with narration by Yannis Andriotis and stories told by Zaharias Matathias • Linos Sousis • Nina Vital. Powerful — both visually and the sound — filmed in an innovative way, combining ambient sound and stories told outdoors with the Mediterranean background, in public spaces, the streets, and Corfu synagogue – with an excellent film score – that is especially impressive how it manages to accompany the viewer in scenes of holocaust atrocities. The history of the Corfiot Jews – a mixture of Pugliese (from south Italy) and Romaniote (from Greece) is told in vivid detail from the Middle Ages to today. I watched this fast paced film twice, last premiere weekend, to fully grasp the whole picture ~ Michel van der Burg – Monday , March 14, 2022 (2).
Film festivals & education & online
The free public release of the film was announced last Saturday (Oct 12, 2024) by filmmaker Mirjan Gjergjevica (3) :
“It is with great pleasure and honor that we present to public our documentary, The Jews of Corfu. This work has been screened in many festivals around the world, from America to Australia, and has been lovingly embraced by schools and universities. Now, we are happy to share this freely with you all. I warmly thank all the main contributors who contributed to the realization of this documentary: Maria Boua, Christiana Latsa, Yiannis Andriotis, Anthi Kyrtsoglou, Giorgos Zumbos and all those who helped directly or indirectly. We hope this documentary continues to convey its message to even more people and be a way to learn about the history of the Jews of Corfu.”
Mirjan added in an update Oct 13, 2024 :
“We would like to clarify that the present publication of the documentary is not related to the recent war events that are taking place. We condemn all forms of violence and conflict, and we strongly advocate peace and reconciliation among the peoples. “
