Derby c.1938 - Eisner Personal Film

Charming amateur film featuring the Eisner family, who emigrated to Britain from Romania the year this film was made

This charming amateur film offers a snapshot of a new life for the Eisner family, who had recently emigrated from Romania to the Derby suburb of Allestree. Mum Vera and children Edward and Erica are filmed by dad Joseph in the back garden of their new home and the family enjoy day trips to Chatsworth House, Warwick Castle and Anne Hathaway's Cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Though King Carol was sympathetic to the Jewish community, the situation in Romania had become increasingly precarious by the late 1930s. Carol abdicated in 1940; the following year Romania entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany and larger-scale persecution of Jews began, with thousands murdered in the Iași pogrom of 29 June-6 July 1941. The Eisners escaped just in time but many Jewish families did not have the means to do so.