Joachimov is an idyllic resort town in the Bohemian mountains. But the town of Joachimov, known in the past as Joachimsthal, also has a long and amazing history and we will discover its hidden face. This is not the story of how the town became affluent due to the discovery of its rich silver mines in the Middle Ages, nor the story of how Marie Curie discovered the element radium in Joachimsthal and founded the atomic era. This film instead tells how, after the Second World War, Joachimsthal’s uranium mines meant hell on earth for 50,000 prisoners. During the 1950’s and 1960’s tens of thousands of Czechs, political prisoners, catholic priests and artists suffered and died in the uranium mines and 16 affiliated concentrations camps. Thousands of trains loaded with uranium travelled from this town in Bohemia to the farthest reaches of Russia, enabling Stalin to build the first soviet atomic bomb. After the mines were exhausted, all traces of the horrible events that had happened there were erased by the trappings of a budding tourist industry. Veteran filmmaker Peter Heller excavates this forgotten history under the ski lifts, cafes and restaurants.

Contaminated and forgotten. In Chernobyl twenty years ago, the unthinkable happened. A reactor of the nuclear power station exploded releasing huge quantities of radioactive substances. To avoid the massive contamination of Europe, thousands of so-called “liquidators”, soldiers, firemen and volunteers try to contain the catastrophe. Along with the delegated film teams they are subjected to deadly radioactive doses. In three weeks most of them are dead. The threat is invisible, odourless. Hardly anyone knows what radioactive radiation is and hardly any information is made available in the country. Many helpers and residents suffer from cancer for years without appropriate treatment or assistance.

Filmmaker Christoph Boekel has lived and worked in Russia for many years. In his latest film, he portrays the destinies of people who were close to him and whose lives were dramatically changed by the Chernobyl catastrophe. Among them are the young artist and railway soldier Dmitrij Gutin, sound engineer Mischa Gapejew and Pravda journalist Wladimir Gubarew. Verstrahlt und vergessen is a haunting and very personal film about ignorance, the contempt of human beings and individuals’ sacrifices, memories and oblivion.