In Heaven Underground: The Weissensee Jewish Cemetary

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Movie Review

In an area of northeast Berlin, Weissensee Jewish Cemetery is a quiet, peaceful 100-acre retreat that holds the graves of 115,000 people and houses a remarkable archive with a wealth of family histories and other information that dates back 130 years to the very establishment of the burial ground during the 1850s. It has, since its gates were opened, withstood all of the warfare and social unrest that swept over Europe during the ensuing decades, remaining intact up the present day. Weissensee is the oldest Jewish cemetery still in use in Europe. In fact, it has never closed never interrupted its operation, never ceased to serve the Jewish community--not even during the years of Nazi domination of Germany and the heinous discrimination against, transportation and murder of Jews.

It seems a miracle that the Nazis did not seize, loot and destroy this cemetery as they did other centers of Jewish tradition and culture. Some say it is because the Nazis were extremely superstitious and feared ghosts. Never-the-less the cemetery remained undisturbed and other than the natural evolutions that occur with time, as it was meant to be" a peaceful resting place for all those interred within its walls. Every gravestone is still in place and each now stands as an historical monument. Each is a holocaust survivor.

Showing tremendous empathy and understanding, filmmaker Britta Wauer interviews various people who are affiliated in some way with the cemetery, or who have journeyed from the far reaches of the world to visit it. Wauer's subjects are an appealing lot. She follows tourists, mourners, a third-generation grave digger, a world-wise rabbi, a family who actually lives at the cemetery and a bird watcher who is studying birds of prey. All of their stories, illustrated with archival footage and home photos, are interwoven and contribute greatly to the film's overall appeal and meaning.

But, really, the film's lead character is Weissensee Jewish Cemetery itself, a place that houses the dead, but has survived to become a symbol of human resilience, and of the importance of recognizing and respecting tradition. For many it has became a place for deep contemplation of the meaning of life and death.