The Austrian journalist Karl Pfeifer, a friend of, and a contributor to, Harry’s Place, is the subject of a documentary video which will be screened Thursday March 31 at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City (11 East 52nd Street).
In 2005, a group of five young men and women founded the “Society for Critical Research on Anti-Semitism” with the goal to produce a film that examines Pfeifer’s life-journey across Europe and the Middle East. Consisting mainly of interviews, the film accompanies the journalist to crucial destinations of his life, such as Austria, Hungary and Israel. Following the paths of Pfeifer’s life also means to follow the paths and ensnarements of Austrian antisemitism.
As a ten-year old boy, Karl Pfeifer fled Austria in 1938, first to Hungary. Four years later, he finally reached Palestine with one of the last Kindertransporte of Hashomer Hatzair. He lived in a Kibbutz, fought for Israel’s independence, and came back to Austria in the early 1950s.
The film includes a famous scene in which Pfeifer asked the late extreme right wing Freedom Party leader Jörg Haider about his connections to Holocaust deniers. Between 1980 and 1987 Pfeifer was expelled from Hungary four times because of his journalistic activities. Pfeifer continues to write for Hungarian, Austrian, Italian, British, German, and Israeli newspapers.
Mr. Pfeifer and one of the film’s collaborators, Daniel Binder, will be present to discuss his life and the making of the film.
Karl was kind enough to send me a DVD of the video, which I enjoyed very much. I would recommend it to anyone in the New York area.
You can reserve tickets for the event here.
