{"id":6846,"date":"2024-06-07T06:27:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T04:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/forced-labor-at-gdr-prison-animated-in-award-winning-kaputt-animation\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T10:06:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T09:06:50","slug":"forced-labor-at-gdr-prison-animated-in-award-winning-kaputt-animation","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/forced-labor-at-gdr-prison-animated-in-award-winning-kaputt-animation\/","title":{"rendered":"Forced labor at GDR prison – animated in award-winning \u201cKaputt\u201d animation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How does one visualize the tragic past of the Hoheneck imprisoned forced laborers, a reality that remained unseen for years? Three German directors, Volker Schlecht, Max M\u00f6nch, and Alexander Lahl, took on this daunting task by conducting extensive oral history research and transforming their findings into the award-winning animation \u201cKaputt.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Animation, often seen as a medium of entertainment for all ages, also serves as a powerful tool for visual storytelling. It can vividly depict significant real-life stories and historical events. In “Kaputt,” the directors utilized animation to bring to life the voices of two former prisoners who were forced laborers in the Hoheneck women’s prison in the GDR. The film sheds light on their daily routines, the oppressive regime, and the exploitation that characterized the prison’s forced labor system.<\/p>\n\n

The 7-minute film begins with continuous gray sketches of the prison and its elements, seamlessly flowing into each other. The strict structure of the drawings resembles architectural plans. Objects constantly transform: toilets morph into eyes, boxes into humans, and humans into sewing machines, blurring the lines between the human and the non-human.<\/p>\n\n

Rendered in gray and white, the film only occasionally includes a splash of red. The sole colorful element is the bedsheet that the inmates are forced to sew in large volumes, later sold in the FRG. This vivid red bedsheet starkly contrasts with the grey monotony of the inmates’ lives.<\/p>\n\n

Parallel to the visuals, the film features the voices of two women narrating their life in Hoheneck: Brigit Willsch\u00fctz and Gabriele St\u00f6tzer. They were interviewed among over 100 others by Lahl and M\u00f6nch. The voiceovers lack the polished quality of studio recordings, sounding instead as if recorded in a regular room during a meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n

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