The Righteous Man from Fulda

This compelling new documentary by Ethan Bensinger traces the filmmaker’s own family Holocaust history through the unlikely story of the two tablecloths that belonged to Hugo Sichel, the filmmaker’s great uncle, who lived in Fulda until his deportation in December 1941. Sichel gifted the tablecloths to his friend and non-Jewish neighbor Paul Römhild, who had put himself and his family at risk to secretly supply Sichel with food. Eight decades later, after a chance encounter, Bensinger travels to the Hessian hometown of his great uncle to receive the tablecloths from Paul Römhild’s daughter, who had kept them safe throughout the years, and to reunite their two families.

This documentary interweaves one family’s story with the broader events surrounding Kristallnacht in Fulda in November 1938, offering insights into the town’s Jewish history and highlighting how the memory of the Holocaust continues to impact the present.

Following the screening, filmmaker Ethan Bensinger will be in discussion with Leora Auslander, Associate Chair of the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago.

Advanced registration here is appreciated: https://dankhaus.com/event-5534971/Registration

If you can’t make this event, don’t miss our other screening at 5pm on Saturday, January 27th at the Goethe-Institut Chicago! More info and registration here.