Watermarks

Watermarks is a very interesting and touching movie, about a group of 6 Jewish women swimmers who were part of Hakoach Vienna - a Jewish sport club in Vienna,before world war two. The director did a superb job in creating contact and sensitively interviewing these women, now in their eighties. Through the stories of Hacoach and the Jewish swimmers, the history of the Jewish community in Vienna, antisemitism and world war two, unfold. I enjoyed and was deeply touched by the movie, and by the personalities of the swimmers.

I had the pleasure of seeing this film at the Nashville Film Fesitval. This documentary tells the story of a special reunion of six members of the Hakoah Vienna, a girl's swim team that broke athletic records in the 1930s as Hitler came to power.

These ladies all have distinct personalities that come shining through as the story unfolds. There is laughter shared amid sadder memories. One of the swimmers was invited to represent Austria in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games but refused as a statement of her stance against Nazism. As a result, she was never allowed to compete again and had her awards taken away. The director lets the story tell itself as the friends go back in time to their youth, when their faith made them visible targets. While much has changed, some things have not. It is an inspiring, thoughtful story worth telling.

"Watermarks" tells the story of 7 women, now in their 80's, which were champion swimmers at the legendary Austrian sports club Hakoach Vienna in the 1930's. The movie includes interviews with the ladies at their current homes in England, Israel and the USA and follows them as they go back to a reunion in Vienna in the old sports club.

It is a touching movie that opens a door to the amazing story of these brave women and to the era it took place in. The combination of a fascinating personal account and the unique cinematography on the background of one of the most horrible times of human history makes it a movie that is moving educational and enjoyable.

It was Holocaust Education Week here in south western Ontario, and my mother and I, gentiles with a strong love for the Jewish people, set out to the Princess Theatre to view the movie Watermarks. It demonstrated a raw beauty, that moved me to tears, made me laugh, and inspired me at the same time. It was impossible to watch this documentary and not be wrapped up in emotion, and easily develop an attachment to any one of the Hakoah swimmers and divers, who were now well into their eighties and making their way back to Austria from various places around the world in order to team once again for a dip into the pool. It is a story of love, respect, and survival amid painful and joyful memories. It taught much; the cinematography and research is first class, and I came home to tell my own children about the movie. Truly inspiring. Beautifully portrayed.

Watermarks is the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah ("The Strength" in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph, which forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes. After the political unification of Nazi Germany and Austria in 1938 the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers managed to flee the country before the war broke out, thanks to an escape operation organized by Hakoah's functionaries.

Sixty-five years later, director Yaron Zilberman meets the members of the women's swim team in their homes around the world, and arranges a reunion in their old swimming pool in Vienna, a journey that evokes memories of youth, struggle and triumph.

(2005 Mongrel Media)