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Watermarks

Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center and The Women’s  Philanthropy Division of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts co-sponsored the film “Watermarks” on May 4, 2010.

The award winning documentary is the touching true story of the Hakoah champion women’s swim team of Vienna.  Hakoah (“The Strength” in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to an anti-Semitic environment that did not allow Austrian sports clubs to accept Jews.  Determined to prove their adversaries wrong, Hakoah rapidly grew into one of Europe’s most successful athletic clubs.  When the Nazis shut down the club in 1938 the swimmers managed to flee Austria.

Sixty-five years later, film director, producer and writer Yaron Zilberman met members of the swim team in their homes around the world and arranged a reunion at their old pool in Vienna.  This heartwarming and poignant coming-of-age film celebrates the resilience, friendship, femininity and courage that kept this story alive, reuniting this impressive group of Jewish women. 

The guest speaker was Professor. Catherine Portuges, UMass Professor of Comparative Literature, Director of Interdepartmental Program in Film Studies and Curator for the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival.

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