Illich family activities in 1938

Ellen (Maexie) Regenstreif Illich (1901-1965) came from a family of converted Sephardic Jews who had settled in Germany. Her industrialist father, Fritz (Pucki) Regenstreif (1868-1941), had a lumber business in Bosnia where he owned a sawmill at Zavidovic and an Art Nouveau villa on the outskirts of Vienna in Pötzleinsdorf built by Friedrich Ohmann. Piero Ilic (1890-1942) came from a landed family in Dalmatia, Yugoslavia with property in Split and extensive wine and olive oil producing estates on the island of Brac. Ellen and Piero married in 1925 and established a home in Split. There was a resurgence of anti-foreign and anti-Jewish sentiment in Yugoslavia, so in 1932, Ellen returned to her father's villa in Vienna with their three children: Ivan (1926-2002), Michael (Micha) (b. 1928), and Alexander (Sascha) (1928-2009). Piero died of natural causes in Split in July 1942 (the boys never saw their father after they moved to Vienna). After the death of Fritz Regenstreif on May 8, 1941, the splendid home was taken by the Nazis in a forced sale, and Maexie moved into a pension in Vienna with the children. In Nazi Austria, Maexie was considered an ethnic Jew although she was a baptized Christian, and the children were classified as half-Jewish. In 1942, they made their way to Florence by way of Split, where they lived for three months. Later, Maexie made her way to the United States, where she died in 1965. Family activities in the year 1938. Introduced with Maexie Films logo (drawing of Maexie holding a film camera) and German titles throughout, some are comical. Micha and Sascha Illich roll out dough in a kitchen, making cookies. CU of a Christmas tree with a nativity scene underneath. The boys trudge through the snow with skis at Kurhaus Semmering. The twins ski down a large hill. Cousin Hanni cautiously walks in front of the camera with her father Paul in the BG. On holiday at Semmering, the three boys walk hand-in-hand and pose for the camera. Ivan with box camera. Train station. The boys on a horse-drawn sled through the snowy forest. Putting on a play, "Poetz Revue," and singing for the camera. The children playing in a pool, including friend Marion Stein (daughter of Erwin Stein, a very important colleague of Mahler, Bartok, Weber). A trip to Melk. The driver Franz Leithner blows into a carburetor. Castle across the Danube river. Visiting the driver's family at Schloss Leithner with a dog. (Wotan) The boys eat in the garden, wear Lederhosen, help farm, and play in a stream. CUs of Ellen (Maexie). They play with kittens and dogs. Portrait of the family under a tree. View of the river. In August, the family visits the church at Maria Zell, eats outdoors, and drives along a mountain road. They continue to tour and stop at Seckau at an outside café. Shell (gasoline) sign in BG left. Micha drinking beer, then Sascha, then Ivan. 02:14:08 The boys practice gymnastics. Touring Maria Zell again, with panoramic views from a mountaintop, cable car, crucifix. Ivan holds a camera. Maexie brushes her hair. A zeppelin flies overhead. The brothers are dressed in black suits as they walk together outside the villa.