RETURN TO THE BUNKER?

The documentary “Return to the bunker?” recounts personal experiences of protagonists who lived through traumatic experiences in bunkers during the world wars, the empty ruins at the turn of the millennium, and a bunker renaissance in Germany and Europe.

Produced by LOOKSfilm and directed by Liv Thamsen and Paul Wiederhold, the documentary moves away from purely technical narratives and focuses on the people. Witnesses of the war, experts, and representatives of the younger generation have their say – they talk about fear, protection, and the need for security in a changing world.

“Return to the Bunker?” looks back at the turbulent history of these concrete monsters and asks what they mean to people – then and now. In a dialogue with his granddaughter Laura Seidenader, Robert Seidenader talks about his time in the Munich bunker at Nockherberg during World War II, and Marione Ingram recounts how she was turned away from the bunker because she was Jewish. Konrad Velten, himself a witness of World War II, and his granddaughter Sophie Hildner bring us to the present, where they offer guided tours of a bunker in Baden-Baden. Henry Foner, who came to Wales on the Kindertransport and spent time in the shelter there, has to relive this experience today in Israel, together with his granddaughter Mor Atsmon. At the same time, journalist and teacher Karina Beigelzimer and her students tell us what it feels like to seek protection in an air-raid shelter in Ukraine and how this shapes their everyday lives. Experts Heide Glaesmer, a psychologist who researches war trauma, Marc Buggeln, a historian and bunker expert, and Martin Voss, a disaster researcher and sociologist, contextualize the events and experiences of the protagonists.

An impressive documentary about the culture of remembrance, resilience, and the social question of how people deal with extreme situations.

Picture: Contemporary witness Konrad Velten in the former „Westwall“ bunker in Baden-Baden-Neuweier