IN VIENNA, THEY PUT YOU IN JAIL: THE MAX BIRNBACH STORY

IN VIENNA, THEY PUT YOU IN JAIL: THE MAX BIRNBACH STORY

    Price: $310.00

    Code: 1973

    Directed by Cheryl Blaylock
    2003, 52 minutes
    Purchase: $310 Classroom Rental: $125


    In 1938 Vienna, anti-Semitism was at its peak. Hitler's army was threatening Austria's border and Max Birnbach knew that he would have to flee Austria or risk certain death as a Jew. This video investigates this dark time in history, chronicling the remarkable story of Max Birnbach—including his imprisonment by the Nazis, a dramatic escape to the Swiss border, life in a refugee camp, the futile efforts to save his parents from deportation to the concentration camps, and the remarkable meeting that made possible his emigration to America—revealing the sharp instincts Max used to survive, the tragedy he had to leave behind, and the life-affirming courage and tenacity he still demonstrates today, in his nineties.

    Subjects & Collections



    Festivals & Awards

    Winner, Best Doc, Long Island International Film Expo
    Official Selection, Hadassah Film Festival, New York
    Official Selection, Jewish Eye Film Festival, Israel
    Official Selection, RiverRun International Film Festival, North Carolina
    Official Selection, Portland Jewish Film Festival
    Official Selection, SwissAm Swiss American Film Festival, New York
    Official Selection, Detroit Docs Film Festival



    Reviews

    "...an interesting and often very moving story...Technical quality is very good." —School Library Journal

    "The film is unusual among Holocaust documentaries…in that it relies significantly on letters exchanged between concentration camp inmates and their family members outside the camps - the letters to Birnbach from his parents. The filmmaker made very effective use of the correspondence." —Jewish Review

    "The most moving experience in the entire festival just might be "In Vienna, They Put You in Jail: The Max Birnbach Story." Birnbach, a Portland resident now in his 90s, escaped the impending horror of 1938 Austria via an epic odyssey that embodies the resilience and determination that have characterized Jewish life for millennia. Birnbach is scheduled to attend the screening, and you can't get any closer to living history than this." —The Oregonian

    "Birnbach's story spans from the heartbreaking to the heartwarming; from his family being torn apart to the miraculous meeting that led to his ticket to America." —Willamette Week

    Highly Recommended "...a fascinating story of escape from the Nazis." —Educational Media Reviews Online