The City Without Jews

Die Stadt ohne Juden The City Without Jews is an 1924 Austrian Expressionist film by H. K. Breslauer, based on the book of the same title by Hugo Bettauer. The film is one of the few surviving Expressionist films from Austria and has therefore been well researched. The film was first shown onJuly 1924 in Vienna.

In Austria the Christian Social Party comes to power, and the new Chancellor Dr.Schwerdtfeger, a fanatical antisemite, sees his people as being ruled by the Jews. He therefore has a law passed by the National Assembly forcing all Jews to emigrate by the end of the year. The law is enthusiastically received by the nonJewish population, and the Jews leave the country. But after a short time a sober reality makes itself felt. Cultural life becomes impoverished in the theatres only plays by Ludwig Ganghofer and Ludwig Anzengruber are still performed. Many cafes are empty, or are converted into beer halls selling sausages. After an initial upturn, the economy declines, as business has greatly diminished, and has moved to other cities, such as Prague and Budapest. Inflation and unemployment run wild.The political characters of the book although not of the film, in order to avoid difficulties with censorship are delineated in such a way as to be identifiable with real politicians of the period Bundeskanzler Schwerdtfeger, for example, is based on Ignaz Seipel. Besides the political action, the film also dwells on the love relationship between Lotte Anny Milety, a typical Viennese girl Wiener Mdel and the daughter of a member of the National Assembly who voted for the banishment of the Jews, and the Jewish artist Leo Strakosch Joseph Riemann. ........

Source: Wikipedia