Ingelore

Frank Stiefel's documentary focuses on his mother, Ingelore Herz Honigstein, who was born to a Jewish family in Kuppenheim, Germany, in 1924. Initially rejected by her parents because she was deaf, Ingelore learned to speak via a foster parent who was a professional speech therapist. Although an education at a school for deaf children would open her horizons, by 1938 she was expelled due to Nazi anti-Semitic policies. Ingelore was able to transfer to a school for Jewish deaf children in Berlin, but one evening she was raped by two soldiers who discovered her on the street after curfew. Ingelore and her family managed to gain visas to America—although the U.S. consulate was initially unsympathetic about granting refuge to a deaf person—but faced a new problem when she discovered that she was impregnated by one of her rapists. Ingelore narrates her story in a studio setting, recounting her odyssey with uncommon eloquence via both sign language and speech. She also makes an emotional journey to her German hometown, where she visits the location of a family hardware store that was confiscated by the Nazis. Broadcast on HBO last year, Ingelore is a heartbreaking story that nevertheless underscores one woman's resilience and indefatigable spirit. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)