The City without Jews (Die Stadt ohne Juden)

Yiddishland and The House of Israel are honored to host a screening of the silent film “The City without Jews. The film is based on a bestselling homonymous dystopian novel by Hugo Bettauer, which portrays the fictional Austrian city of “Utopia” (a thinly-disguised stand-in for Vienna), which passed an antisemitic law, forcing all Jews to leave the country. Although at first the decision was welcomed and met with celebration, as time went by, Utopia’s citizens faced an ongoing economic impoverishment and cultural decline that forced them to reconsider their decision and wonder whether to invite the Jews back. Though darkly comedic in tone and stylistically influenced by German Expressionism, the film nonetheless contains ominous and eerily realistic sequences, such as shots of freight trains transporting Jews out of the city. It is considered to be one of the few surviving Austrian expressionist films, being then the subject of research and interest both in Austria and around the world. We will have the unique opportunity to enjoy live original music by world-renowned Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and silent film pianist Donald Sosin.