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Gustav Laabs and Lettre Becker

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1996.166 | RG Number: RG-60.5025 | Film ID: 3824, 3293, 3383, 3384, 3385

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    Gustav Laabs and Lettre Becker

    Overview

    Description
    RG-60.5025 Hidden camera interview with Gustav Laabs, who drove a gas van at Chelmno. Lanzmann is challenged by two neighbors after Laabs refuses to open the door to his apartment. Additional rolls contain industrial scenes and footage of a truck in transit. The truck was manufactured by the company Saurer, which also manufactured gas vans during the war. Multiple takes show Lanzmann reading a letter written by the engineer Dr. Becker in which Becker details the operation of a gas van.

    FILM ID 3824 -- Laabs CR#4-7 Maison Chelmno
    CR4 Germany filmed from the rear window of a moving vehicle. Cars drive. People stand on the sidewalk. A building at the side of the road says “MOBEL BODEN”. The car turns down another street.

    CR5 CU of a window with curtains. The camera tilts down, pans to the right on a brick wall, and left on another balcony with windows. WS building with a blue car parked in front. Lanzmann and Corinna walk on the street. Cut to leader. A man walks outside. INT of the car, Adidas box on the left. Lanzmann stands outside a door. Sign marked “G. Laabs”. Cut to leader [orange]. INT Lanzmann stands outside Laabs’ apartment. No one answers. Cut to leader. A man smoking walks by. A man and woman exit the door. CU building windows. A man in a blue sweater walks towards the building. He stops, looks back, and shrugs. A young boy sits in an open window of the building, he quickly hides. Cut to leader. Man in the blue sweater briefly talks [silent]. He walks toward the building. Lanzmann and Corinna walk away, they are both smiling. Another shot of the building through the car window. A boy rests in the window, and a young man stands below. A woman calls to her children through the door. Cut to orange.

    CR6 Lanzmann talks to a neighbor of Laabs, CUs. The man insists he does not know what Laabs did during the war, and that he does not really know him. Lanzmann continues to question him, and again the neighbor says he doesn’t know anything. Lanzmann tells him he killed 200,000 Jews and drove the gas van at Chelmno. He says he will call someone if they don’t stop filming. Lanzmann persists, asking what he thinks of these affairs in general. The man says he condemns them. They continue arguing. The conversation ends abruptly as Lanzmann says “goodbye”. Lanzmann and Corinna walk away.

    FILM ID 3293 (also called Film ID 3825) -- Coupe Image II Laab[s] II Fin Chelmno II
    Streets, houses, etc. shot from a moving car. The car pulls up outside of Laabs' house and Lanzmann (not on camera) reads from the indictment at the 1963 trial. CU on one window and balcony in the apartment building. Lanzmann and a women walk up to the building. Lanzmann stands outside a door labeled "G. Laabs." He rings the doorbell but there is no answer. In the next scene Lanzmann is challenged by two residents of the building, who tell him that he cannot film people who don't wish to be filmed. They say Mr. Laabs is a good neighbor. Lanzmann tells the two neighbors of Laabs that he drove a gas van during the war and murdered over 200,000 Jews. The woman turns her back to the camera and tells Lanzmann that if she sees herself on television she will get a lawyer. The man starts to tell Lanzmann that they are from the next generation. Lanzmann says that he has given them information about their neighbor. The woman tells Lanzmann to leave and they walk away.

    FILM ID 3383 -- CR#1,2,3,9,10 -- 01:00:08 to 01:23:20
    View from inside a truck as Lanzmann's crew drives along a highway and industrial areas in Germany (Switzerland?). CUs of trucks. Multiple takes of Lanzmann reading engineer Dr. Becker's letter concerning the operation of the gas vans. The May 16, 1942 letter was addressed to Obersturmbahnfuehrer Walter Rauff, Central Security of the Reich in Berlin, in Kiev, Ukraine. Lanzmann reads the document in French and in German while inside the moving vehicle. Ends with recorded candid conversation in French.

    FILM ID 3384 -- CR#11,12,Breme 1 -- 02:00:08 to 02:29:05
    Lanzmann's crew films trucks driving along a highway in Switzerland and at a truck rest stop. CUs, a blue "Saurer" truck. "Saurer" manufactured the trucks that were used as gas vans. They were made in Kiev, Simferopol, Minsk, Riga, and Kaunas from late 1941 to 1942.

    FILM ID 3385 -- Saurer 1,2,4 --03:00:09 - 03:02:40
    CUs, a blue "Saurer" truck.
    Duration
    01:07:00
    Date
    Event:  Summer 1979
    Production:  1985
    Locale
    Germany
    Switzerland
    Credit
    Created by Claude Lanzmann during the filming of "Shoah," used by permission of USHMM and Yad Vashem
    Contributor
    Director: Claude Lanzmann
    Assistant: Corinna Coulmas
    Cinematographer: Dominique Chapuis
    Biography
    Claude Lanzmann was born in Paris to a Jewish family that immigrated to France from Eastern Europe. He attended the Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand. His family went into hiding during World War II. He joined the French resistance at the age of 18 and fought in the Auvergne. Lanzmann opposed the French war in Algeria and signed a 1960 antiwar petition. From 1952 to 1959 he lived with Simone de Beauvoir. In 1963 he married French actress Judith Magre. Later, he married Angelika Schrobsdorff, a German-Jewish writer, and then Dominique Petithory in 1995. He is the father of Angélique Lanzmann, born in 1950, and Félix Lanzmann (1993-2017). Lanzmann's most renowned work, Shoah, is widely regarded as the seminal film on the subject of the Holocaust. He began interviewing survivors, historians, witnesses, and perpetrators in 1973 and finished editing the film in 1985. In 2009, Lanzmann published his memoirs under the title "Le lièvre de Patagonie" (The Patagonian Hare). He was chief editor of the journal "Les Temps Modernes," which was founded by Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, until his death on July 5, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/claude-lanzmann-changed-the-history-of-filmmaking-with-shoah
    From 1974 to 1984, Corinna Coulmas was the assistant director to Claude Lanzmann for his film "Shoah." She was born in Hamburg in 1948. She studied theology, philosophy, and sociology at the Sorbonne and Hebrew language and Jewish culture at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and INALCO in Paris. She now lives in France and publishes about the Five Senses. http://www.corinna-coulmas.eu/english/home-page.html

    Physical Details

    Language
    French German Silent
    Genre/Form
    Outtakes.
    B&W / Color
    Color
    Image Quality
    Mixed
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 3824 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3824 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3824 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3824 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3824 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3824 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative - B-wind
      Master 3384 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3384 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 3384 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3384 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 3384 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3384 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 3384 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3384 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 3385 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3385 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3385 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3385 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3385 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3385 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3385 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3385 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3383 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3383 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3383 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3383 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3383 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3383 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3383 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3383 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3383 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3383 Film: negative - 16 mm - color - silent - original negative
      Master 3383 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - color - workprint
      Master 3383 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3293 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3293 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293.2 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3293 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293.2 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3293 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293.2 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - workprint
      Master 3293 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
      Master 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293.2 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
      Master 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - magnetic - sound - workprint
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3384 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3384 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3384 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 3384 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3384 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3385 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3385 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3385 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3385 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3385 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3383 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3383 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3383 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3383 Film: positive - 16 mm - polyester - color - silent - interpositive - A-wind - Kodak - 3242
      Preservation 3383 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
      Preservation 3293.1 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Film: full-coat mag track - 16 mm - polyester
      Preservation 3293 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    • User
    • User 3383 Video: DVD
      User 3383 Video: DVD
      User 3383 Video: DVD
      User 3383 Video: DVD
      User 3384 Video: DVD
      User 3384 Video: DVD
      User 3384 Video: DVD
      User 3384 Video: DVD
      User 3385 Video: DVD
      User 3385 Video: DVD
      User 3385 Video: DVD
      User 3385 Video: DVD

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
    Copyright
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, State of Israel
    Conditions on Use
    Third party must sign the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's SHOAH Outtakes Film License Agreement in order to reproduce and use film footage. Contact filmvideo@ushmm.org

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Film Provenance
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased the Shoah outtakes from Claude Lanzmann on October 11, 1996. The Claude Lanzmann Shoah Collection is now jointly owned by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem - The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.
    Note
    Claude Lanzmann spent twelve years locating survivors, perpetrators, and eyewitnesses for his nine and a half hour film Shoah released in 1985. Without archival footage, Shoah weaves together extraordinary testimonies to render the step-by-step machinery of the destruction of European Jewry. Critics have called it "a masterpiece" and a "monument against forgetting." The Claude Lanzmann SHOAH Collection consists of roughly 185 hours of interview outtakes and 35 hours of location filming.

    This interview is located on Film ID numbers 3824, 3293, 3383, 3384, and 3385. Film IDs 3383 to 3385 were preserved in 2010.

    Film ID 3293 (a workprint roll in black and white) was preserved along with Simon Srebnik's interview in 2008. It is labeled "Coupe Image II Laabs II Fin Chelmno II". The original camera negative (in color) was scanned in 2016. It may also be called FILM ID 3825.
    Film Source
    Claude Lanzmann
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 5042
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:23:33
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1002784

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