"The Class of '38. Exile & Excellence" gives 16 outstanding scientists their say in a unique documentary. The personalities featured in the film by Frederick Baker, including Eric Kandel, Martin Karplus, Ruth Klüger and Walter Kohn, have in common not only persecution by the National Socialists and expulsion from Austria after the "Anschluss" in 1938, but also outstanding scientific careers.
"The Class of '38. Exile & Excellence" makes the lives and fates of these people accessible and, in personal interviews, gives direct insights into the experience – and lasting effects – of persecution, escape, displacement and building a new life in their countries of refuge.
The film project was based on an idea by Anton Zeilinger and was realized by the filmmaker Frederick Baker (deceased 2020) under the scientific direction of the historians Johannes Feichtinger and Heidemarie Uhl (deceased 2023).