Angst
Clip 2: Recollection of childhood
2 min 17 sec (
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Taken from the documentary Angst (1993)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be PG
Availability of the complete title
Curator’s clip description
Three Jewish comedians, Deb Filler from New Zealand, Sandy Gutman (Austen Tayshus) from Melbourne and American Moshe Waldoks, talk about their childhoods as children of Holocaust survivors.
Teachers’ notes
provided by The Le@rning Federation
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This clip shows three Jewish comedians, Sandy Gutman, Deb Filler and Moshe Waldoks, talking about their lives and work via on-camera interviews and through examples of their comedy. They refer to their childhood experiences, and elements of their Jewish heritage and recent history, particularly the Holocaust, are described. Footage of New York Harbour, including the Statue of Liberty and old family photographs are used to illustrate the stories.
Educational value points
- The clip introduces three children of the latest of many Jewish diasporas (dispersions). Persecution, loss of state and expulsion have resulted in a number of diasporas for the Jewish people. The first was from Babylon in the 1st century BC and later again when the Roman Empire controlled Judea. As slaves under the Romans, Jews were moved around the empire and, throughout the Middle Ages, religious persecution and heavy taxation continued to result in forced migration.
- The diaspora that is the subject of the clip occurred as a result of the Holocaust. During the Second World War (1939–45), it is estimated that more than 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews were murdered by the Nazis in specially constructed concentration camps. In one of these, Auschwitz, more than 2 million Jews lost their lives. By 1945, the Jewish populations in Europe had fallen from 9 million to 3 million. Jews were singled out for systematic extermination by the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, who believed that the racial purity and superiority of the Aryan super-race would enable the Third Reich to last for a thousand years.
- Sydney comedian Sandy Gutman (1954–) aka Austen Tayshus, who is introduced in the clip, is a well-known contemporary Australian comedian. His father was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Australia after the War. Gutman released the Billy Birmingham-penned Australiana in 1983. It is still the biggest-selling comedy record in Australia. A spoken-word piece, Australiana draws its inspiration from weaving the names of Australian places, flora and fauna into the events of a barbecue.
- The clip hints at the struggles with cultural identity that first and second generation migrants experience. Deb Filler talks about the desperate struggle to ‘fit in’ after arriving in New Zealand and her feelings of being caught between different cultural forces, those of the country and religion of her parents, and those of their adopted country.
- The continuing influence of the Holocaust on future generations is clearly indicated. Moshe Waldoks (1949–) describes the responsibility his mother felt to be a ‘memorial’ to what had happened to the family. Deb Filler as a young girl tries to take the place of the missing family members to provide emotional support for her father. Sandy Gutman says that the Holocaust was the seminal influence for his father’s generation and informs ‘every moment’ of his own life.
- Humour is used as a tool for personal expression and cultural explanation. Themes of displacement and alienation run through the childhood reflections of each of the comedians. Themes of racism, cultural and personal alienation and religious stereotyping provide the material for their routines.
