Hannas Reise

For as long as I can remember, my mother would travel to Israel every year, learning Hebrew and maintaining friendships and relationships in the country. Her father had a Jewish mother, and those roots gave her a close sense of connection to the country. I began traveling there as a teenager, as well. So, I was delighted when I was asked to adapt Theresa Bäuerlein’s novel “Das war der gute Teil des Tages” (That Was the Good Part of the Day) for the screen, a German-Israeli love story set in the third generation after the Holocaust. We told this story with a lot of humor, something I was only familiar with from Israel because, at least back then, people in Germany weren’t brave enough to talk much about this challenging subject. It was also my first collaboration with Karoline Schuch, followed by others, of course. I will never forget our research and shooting in the German-speaking retirement homes in Israel, where Holocaust survivors were still welcoming German volunteers from the third generation every week to share their experiences with them personally. Today, very few of them are alive. Lia König, who plays Gertraud in our film, was born in Lodz in 1929 and still lives near Tel Aviv today. She is the focus of the film.

Since making this piece, I continue to be fascinated by the lasting impact of the Holocaust on subsequent generations.