ABSTRACT
In the summer of 1939 my Uncle, Leslie Kerman, went on holiday to Germany. It was his first and only trip abroad and his command of the language was confined to the ability to order eggs and chips. We possess a 16 mm film of this adventure. The flickering, scratched, black and white image shows my Uncle with a glass of beer, my Uncle with wet hair, wearing a one-piece bathing costume laughing by the pool, my Uncle up a mountain grinning. In the background of this film, there is a continuous frieze of passing swastikas, emblazoned on flying flags, buildings and the arm bands of young men who are also holding glasses of beer and grinning at the camera. This film was a source of great amusement to us as children, how could he have been so optimistically oblivious to the menacing surroundings?
