Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Gessner visits Moscow

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 2014.534 | RG Number: RG-60.1832 | Film ID: 4169

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    Gessner visits Moscow

    Overview

    Description
    Gessner enters a doorway through two Red Army soldiers after one looks at his papers. 01:05:40 WS of the House of the Unions [Дом Союзов] in Moscow, Russia. Sign beneath reads ““Всесоюзный Съезд Советских писатепей”[All-Soviet-Union Meeting of the Soviet Writers].Three other banners hang from the building with quotes from Maxim Gorky Писатели- Это Инженеры Человеческих Душ [Writers are Enginеers of Human Souls].

    01:05:48 Gessner walks through a doorway again, pulling out his papers to show to the soldier. He looks back at the camera and flashes his papers. A young boy and girl talk to each other in front of a board with portraits of the classics of the Russian literature (Nekrasov, Gogol, Griboedov, Pisarev, and others) mounted. The camera shows more boards with portraits of Russian writers. A man observes.The young boy and girl sit down at an outdoor table. The girl attempts to grab a paper from beneath the menu of the person next to her, but then is handed a paper. Soviet Propaganda posters of books with covers in Russian like “Mаркс” [Marx] and “Сталин” [Stalin], "Ленин" [Lenin].

    Very young children. One lightly hits another. Young boys play with a ball.

    A group of older men at the entrance to Moscow Choral Synagogue. Some smile, others just stare. Two men in the street look up at the camera. More of the group of men. Two men standing outside, one wears the Jewish prayer shawl (tallit). Blurry CU of a bearded man wearing a tallit. More men talking outside the Moscow Choral Synagogue.
    Duration
    00:03:00
    Date
    Event:  1934
    Locale
    Moscow, Soviet Union
    Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Peter Gessner
    Contributor
    Camera Operator: Robert J. Gessner
    Biography
    Robert Gessner was born on October 21, 1907 in Escanaba, MI. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1929 and a M.A. from Columbia University in 1930. He started teaching at New York University in 1930. He married Doris Lindeman on May 27, 1938 and had two children, Peter and Stephen. Mr. Gessner was a screen playwright and the author of several books, including "Massacre" (1931); "Broken Arrow" (1933); "Some of My Best Friends are Jews" (1936); "Treason" (1944); "Youth is the Time" (1945). He was a pioneer educator in motion pictures as an art form. Gessner founded the Motion Picture Department (now Cinema Studies) at NYU in 1941, the first four-year film curriculum leading to a B.A. degree in motion picture studies in the United States. He finished his book "The Moving Image, A Guide to Cinematic Literacy" before he died in June 1968.

    Physical Details

    Language
    Silent
    Genre/Form
    Amateur.
    B&W / Color
    Black & White
    Image Quality
    Good
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 4169 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - reversal original - B-wind - Kodak
      Master 4169 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - reversal original - B-wind - Kodak
      Master 4169 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - reversal original - B-wind - Kodak
      Master 4169 Film: positive - 16 mm - b&w - reversal original - B-wind - Kodak

    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
    Conditions on Use
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum places no restrictions on use of this material. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this film footage.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Film Provenance
    Robert Gessner was a Jewish American screenwriter and author of several books. He traveled to several European countries in 1934 and took films and photographs of his trip. His son, Peter, donated the collection to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in November 2014.
    Note
    Robert Gessner published a book in 1936 about his overseas travels called "Some of my Best Friends Are Jews"

    See RG-60.1833 and RG-60.1824 for more footage of the Moscow Choral Synagogue.
    Film Source
    Mr. Peter Gessner
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 08:00:37
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn553838

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us