Munich Stories The Springer, Maier and Rosenthal families

In 1936, Julius and Anny left their hometown of Munich with their two sons, Felix and Hans Wolfgang (later known as John), who were 11 and 8 years old at the time, to escape persecution as Jews. They built a new life for themselves in Chicago. Julius’s mother, sisters, brother-in-law, and nephews also found refuge in the United States. Anny’s mother Dorline and her sister, the young artist and actress Elisabeth Springer, as well as many other relatives, remained in Munich and Augsburg. At some point, all contact with them ceased. Many decades later, John’s daughter Judy began researching the history of her German-Jewish family.

The findings of her search are recounted in the short film “Die Familie war jüdisch …” (Germany, 2021, 17 minutes)