Watermarks

Zilberman's straightforward, affectionate documentary reunites the female swimmers – now in their eighties – of the legendary Hakoah sports club of Vienna, founded to counter the ‘Aryans-only’ policy adapted by many Austrian clubs in the ’30s; the most talented among the young women, Judith Haspel, was banned from competing and stripped of her records after she refused to participate in the Nazi showcase that was the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Membership in Hakoah not only bolstered Jewish pride and dignity under terrible assault but later proved a life-saver for many: after the German Anschluss or annexation of Austria in 1938, the head and coach of Hakoah helped their athletes secure safe passage to the US, Great Britain, Palestine, and elsewhere.