Imagine picking up a novel, thinking it’s fiction, only to find it’s your family’s untold story during 1930s Nazi Germany. This was Carole’s shocking discovery. Her journey to uncover buried secrets reveals haunting truths of intergenerational trauma and the dark forces of exclusion that tore her family from their homeland.
SYNOPSIS
I never expected to find my family’s story in a German novel. But in 2016, I opened Something Remains, a work of historical fiction, and recognized nearly every Jewish character. They were my relatives—people I had grown up knowing, but whose past was never discussed. The novel was based on real events, researched by German high school students and written by their teacher, Inge Barth-Grozinger. She had assigned her class to investigate what happened to the last Jewish students at their school. That’s how Erich Levi, a cousin I’d never heard of, became the novel’s protagonist.
This discovery launched me into a deeply personal search for truth.
Something Remains is a microhistory that traces what happened to my Jewish family in Ellwangen, Germany—a rural town where they were the only Jews. For generations, they were respected cattle traders, fully integrated into the community. But between 1933 and 1938, trust gave way to betrayal as Nazi policies quietly stripped them of rights, dignity, and livelihood. When brownshirts drove their cattle into the river, it was the final blow. They weren’t sent to camps—but they were forced to leave. This lesser-known chapter of the Holocaust, before the gas chambers, is rarely told.
Years later, Erich returned as a U.S. soldier to arrest former Nazis and restore the desecrated Jewish cemetery where our ancestor was buried.
As I follow his path, I begin to understand my own. This is a story about silence, memory, and the echoes of history we’re still reckoning with
Director Statement
The random discovery of an out-of-print novel changed my life. While making a montage for my mother’s 80th birthday, I stumbled upon a story—part fact, part fiction—about a Jewish boy growing up in Ellwangen, Germany, as Hitler rose to power. As I read, I realized the characters were my family—relatives I knew but never truly understood. I thought they left by choice. I now know they were forced out.
That novel, written by a local schoolteacher and inspired by her students’ research into the last Jews of their town, became a gateway. It catapulted me into a journey of uncovering the past—and in doing so, I found a living community in Ellwangen that remembers my family. I’ve been called not only to continue the story, but to claim it. To seek out the micro-histories, the emotional truths, and the lived details that only I can tell.
This film is personal, but its impact is universal. In an age of misinformation and erasure, personal stories matter more than ever. My search for understanding is also a call for others to look inward, to ask questions, and to recognize how history lives in us. This is my way of finding where I come from—and offering a lens for others to do the same.
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director Carole Blueweiss
Carole Blueweiss is a first-time director at age 60, returning to her first love: documentary filmmaking. In college, she immersed herself in media, serving as photography editor for the daily newspaper, working at the campus radio station, and interning at the CBS affiliate in Boston. She was awarded two grants— to photograph and interview visitors in U.S. national parks, and another to work with a documentary producer at KCTS-TV in Seattle. Carole then freelanced at KNME-TV and at Univision in Albuquerque contributing to documentary projects.
After three years in media, the need for financial stability led her to pivot to physical therapy, where she built a 25-year career. Though she left clinical work, her passion for storytelling remained. Today, she produces, hosts, and edits the podcast Wisdom Shared, which has over 20,000 downloads, and she runs a wellness business offering workshops on posture and movement.
Now, with the freedom to fully dedicate herself to filmmaking, Carole is directing her first feature documentary—a project that brings her full circle to her roots in storytelling and social impact. She was accepted into the Production Assistance Program at Women Make Movies, which is also her fiscal sponsor. She is a member of Gotham, A-Doc, D-Word, NYWIFT, Show and Tell, and IDA. Bilingual in English and Spanish, Carole brings a rich, multicultural perspective to her work. With a deep belief that it’s never too late to tell important stories, she is committed to filmmaking for the rest of her life.
PROMOTE THIS PROJECT
Put a donation widget on your site. Click here for code.
ABOUT YOUR DONATION
Women Make Movies (WMM), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization registered with the New York Charities Bureau of New York State and accepts charitable donations on behalf of this project. Your donation will be spent by the filmmaker(s) toward the production and completion of this media project. No services or goods are provided by Women Make Movies, the filmmaker(s) or anyone else associated with this project in exchange for your charitable donation.
Your contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law, and a confirmation of your donation will be sent via email. WMM will send you an acknowledgement letter in the mail to the address listed for tax purposes.