It seems that the actors played a very important role in his choices, as evidenced by the names of three actresses: Grethe Weiser, Lucie Englisch and Hilde Krahl. Whilst the first two were established and very popular actresses, the latter was a very young actress who had made just ten films by that point. The fact that Pierre listed the names of actors and actresses on eleven occasions reinforces the idea that it was primarily these German film stars who drew him to all the movie theaters in the centre of Strasbourg that had reopened.
In 1942, Pierre visited all nine movie theaters in the town (excluding the suburbs). However, it is clear that he went five times to the very large Rheingold movie theater, and just as many times to the small Eden movie theater, which had opened in January. Looking at the addresses of these two movie theaters, we can see that the Eden is situated less than five hundred metres from his home, and that the Rheingold is the movie theater closest to his school. The Arkaden, which he visited four times, is the other movie theater closest to his home. This insight into a day in the life of Pierre, living under Nazi rule, sheds light on moments of normality and pockets of freedom, particularly for the youngest members of society.
Photo 85 : DR – Actress Lucie Englisch (1902-1965).
Photo 86 : DR – Actress Grethe Weiser (1903-1970).
Photo 87 : Coll. part. Marcel Wander – A page from Pierre Wander’s diary for the week of 25 October, in which he notes that he went to see the film Das andere Ich (1941, Wolfgang Liebeneiner), starring Hilde Krahl.
Photo 88 : Archives cinématographies de l’est –Hilde Krahl in the role of Dunja in Der Postmeister (1940, Gustav Ucicky), photograph from the magazine Illustrierter Film-kurier n°3098.