Film
„Dir sid nët vergiess!“
The Concentration Camp Hinzert
A film by Julian Weinert
A production of the “Förderverein Gedenkstätte KZ Hinzert e.V.” in cooperation with the Institute for Media Design – img, and the study program Time-based Media, Prof. Egon Bunne at the Mainz University of Applied Sciences.
Hinzert, a village in the middle of the Hunsrück, 20 kilometers southeast of the city of Trier. During the Nazi dictatorship, a concentration camp was located outside the village, where mass executions were carried out.
The documentary film “Dir sid nët vergiess!” accompanies a group of Luxembourg students during a tour of the memorial site. How do the young people face the horrors of the past? What lessons do they learn from history? Interviews with historians and contemporary witnesses, including one of the last survivors of the Hinzert concentration camp, are embedded in the accompaniment. It becomes clear that although it was a comparatively small camp, it had some special features that made it unique within the German camp system.
“In consideration of the worldwide increase of anti-democratic and right-wing populist forces, commemorative work including education about fascism and racism is more important today than ever. The film is a plea for remembrance and political education. It was a great honor for me to meet one of the last survivors of the Hinzert concentration camp, who had never been interviewed before, as part of the project. In the near future, unfortunately, there will no longer be any contemporary witnesses who can tell us their stories directly. This makes the work of memorial sites and also the filmic testimonies all the more important.”
Julian Weinert
Short biography of the director
Julian Weinert was born on 6st of March in 1989 in Neunkirchen (Saar). In 2014 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Studies and German Studies from the University of Trier. Here he already realized his first short film and media projects. He then completed a master’s degree in “Time-Based Media” with a focus on film direction at the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz.
A production of the Förderverein Gedenkstätte KZ Hinzert e.V. in cooperation with the Institute for Media Design and the time-based media course at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, sponsored by the LOTTO Rheinland-Pfalz Foundation and the Rheinland-Pfalz Foundation for Culture, with the kind support of the State Agency for Civic Education of Rheinland-Pfalz.
A DVD edition of the film has been published by the Förderverein Gedenkstätte KZ Hinzert e.V. and can be ordered for a donation. Furthermore, upon request, there is the possibility to present the film within the framework of discussion or evening events in the presence of the producers.
Script & Direction: Julian Weinert
Producer: Julian Weinert & Georg Mertes
Assembly: Samir Meslem & Daniel Alznauer
Color Correction: Björn Brunke
Camera & Light: Jan Philip Baldus, Benjamin Böhm, Moriz Schroeter, Jerija Bengi, Samir Meslem, Phillip Pecherski & Stefan Wagner
Speaker: Nick Benjamin, Melanie Noesen, Thomas Mill & Ralf Schröter
Sound: Philipp Grzemba, Denise Bischof & Tobias Koroll
Music: Michael Hack
Sound Design: Philipp Grzemba
Drone Camera Operator: Jan Philip Baldus
Gimbal Operator: Jan Philip Baldus & Jerija Bengi
Stand photography: Moriz Schroeter & Phillip Pecherski
Animation: Felix Schuch
Produktionsassistance: Ricarda Ahmetovic
Regieassistance & Mask: Jana Marie Jarzembowski
Communication design: Jennifer Stark
Historical consulting: Georg Mertes & Alice Fuß
Project support: Prof. Egon Bunne