MovieChat Forums > Woman in Gold (2015) Discussion > sidewalk scrubbing scene

sidewalk scrubbing scene

posted 9 years ago by epowellmc
9 replies | jump to latest

What is the translation of the words painted on the sidewalk? (The scene was a little confusing to me. I assume the words were meant to humiliate the Jewish residents. Why would they be forced to scrub them away "with acid"? Other than for that inherent humiliation and injury...?)

[If you have the added confusion of viewing "The Book Thief" within days of seeing "Woman in Gold", here's a translation from TBT- on posters on the street- "Feind hot mit" - "The enemy is listening"]

Thanks for any assistance.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] epowellmc 9 years ago

Yes, I understand the "scrubbing" part, just not why words were painted there.
I also no longer have the DVD handy. I seem to remember "oste" as the last word...

Thanks.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Harbecke 9 years ago

It was an anti-Nazi slogan, that somebody had painted on the street. I'm not quite sure of the words, but it was something like "Für ein freies Österreich", meaning "For a free Austria". i.e. for an independent Austria not united with Nazi-Germany.

[–] epowellmc 9 years ago

Thanks! That makes sense. It was probably a pretty gutsy thing to write (and probably on someone else's property/sidewalk). In the coming months and years it would probably have been a fatal statement.

[–] locham2011 9 years ago

"The enemy is listening" translates from "Feind hört mit".

[–] Silverthorny 9 years ago

That was anti-Jew propoganda. Fur ein feier Oste means "For a free West". It means For a Jew Free West. The nazis painted it on Jewish property and then got their jollies by making the Jews scrub it off. Same with making them paint "Jud" or "Juden" on their own doors and shops.

[–] katjajtak 9 years ago

Was this scene perhaps before the nazis officially arrived?

[–] locham2011 9 years ago

"For a free West" - für einen freien Osten? 'Osten' means East, not West.