The Story of Gad Beck

Gad Beck, wearing a scarf and hat, sits at a bistro table with three empty coffee cups. He holds a folded piece of paper in one hand, while the other hand points away from him with spread fingers. Gad Beck looks into the camera, which is photographing him from outside through the shop window.

The Story of Gad Beck

A documentary by Carsten Does and Robin Cackett

Gad Beck (1923-2012) was a great story teller. He was ten years old when the Nazis came to power and 19 when his great love Manfred Lewin was deported and killed in Auschwitz. “Half-breeds” by Nazi standards Gad Beck and his twin sister Miriam were interned at Rosenstrasse camp in the centre of Berlin in 1943 but set free again after unique street protests by non-Jewish relatives and friends.

As leader of the underground group “Chug Chaluzi” Gad Beck helped to organize the survival of many Jews in Berlin during the last two years of World War II until he and his friends were finally caught.

How is history remembered and told? How is an eye witness staged by later generations and how does he stage himself?

A film about the fluid boundaries between truth and legend and about the omnipresence of media representations in history.
A film about negotiating between generations, about curiosity, flirtation and tact.
A film about mundane heroism and gay lust for life in a murderous time.

The Story of Gad Beck
Germany 2006, 100 min.

Featuring Gad Beck, Miriam Rosenberg (née Beck), Hans-Oskar Löwenstein, Jizchak Schwersenz and Zvi Aviram

Authors: Carsten Does und Robin Cackett
Camera: Frank Kranstedt, Montage: Susanne Foidl

Authors' own production

Awarded Best European Feature Film at the 17th Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

„The ideal film about my life would be done by Steven Spielberg, Forgive me, forgive me."

— Gad Beck

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Gad Beck and his twin sister Miriam as children in a historic black-and-white photograph.

Hans-Oskar Löwenstein sits on a bench with his walking stick and turns toward the camera. In the background is the Holy Lake in Potsdam. — Hans-Oskar Baron Löwenstein de Witt (1926-2004) Companion with whom Gad Beck was imprisoned in the Rosenstraße transit camp in Berlin.

Yitzhak Schwersenz in a plaid shirt — Dr. Jizchak Schwersenz (1915-2005) Founded the Chug Chaluzi and handed over leadership of the underground group to Gad Beck before fleeing to Switzerland.

Portrait of Gad Beck. He is wearing a blue checked scarf. — Gad Beck (1923-2012)

Miriam Rosenberg looks into the camera. A garden can be seen blurred in the background — Miriam Rosenberg (geb. Beck) (1923-2010) Gad Beck's twin sister.

Zvi Aviram is standing on Zehdenicker Street, his head tilted slightly to one side.. — Zvi Aviram (1927-2020) Companion of Gad Beck and member of the Chug Chaluzi.

Gad Beck was probably one of the most colourful personalities in German Jewish history.

He survived Nazi-Germany as a homosexual and Jewish youth. A crucial experience in his life was the deportation of his Jewish lover Manfred Lewin who did not survive the Holocaust: the entire Lewin family was murdered in Auschwitz.

How is History remembered and told? A documentary about an openly gay witness of Nazi Germany

“The Rosenstraße event made one thing clear to me: I won't wait until we get deported.”

— Gad Beck

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