A turbulent life in moving times
Walter Kaufmann (1924 – 2021) was an attentive companion of turbulent times until his old age. The documentary ‘Walter Kaufmann: What a Life!’ by Berlin filmmakers Karin Kaper and Dirk Szuszies, which will have its Australian premiere in Sydney on 18 September, is dedicated to the Jewish writer, who was deported to Australia as an enemy on the Dunera at the age of 16 after fleeing the Nazis on a Kindertransport in 1940.
The film traces the stages of Walter Kaufmann’s life, accompanying the elderly man with a camera to his childhood home of Duisburg, among other places. Friends and dialogue partners from his travels talk about shared experiences. It becomes clear that Kaufmann described the world with great curiosity and a sense for ostensible peripheral events, behind which he often enough uncovered something deeper.
Kaper and Szuszies did not have the opportunity to go travelling with Walter Kaufmann again. At more than 90 years of age, he was already physically ill but mentally unbroken. The film concludes with his clear commitment to democracy and his appeal against right-wing tendencies. Completed shortly after Kaufmann’s death, the documentary film also reflects the legacy of one of the youngest Dunera Boys:
“This shift to the right has mobilised me, inwardly, in the sense that I now want to go to the barricades and tell everyone: Never again – never again!”
Please note: Before seeing the film, you should not miss a tour of the exhibition ‘Dunera: Stories of Internment’ in the State Library. On display are 200 works of art by Dunera internees and other contemporary artefacts.


The State Library NSW will screen the documentary ‘Walter Kaufmann: What a Life!’ on 18 September at 6pm at the Macquarie Building, 1 Shakespeare Place in Sydney. Kate Garrett (Dunera Association) will introduce the screening. Admission costs AUD 15, concessions AUD 10. Photos: From the FIlm.
