Gertrud Pinkus

A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.

A young illusionist and magician finds a photo of her partner, who died in the last world war, with an old variety show assistant who makes a living as a street musician. This inspires him to search for the life story of this versatile artist.

Maria, a young migrant from southern Italy, recounts her exile in Frankfurt with Giacomo, whom she married against her parents’ wishes in the hope of a better life. To avoid breaking the code of silence that prevails in her region of origin, other protagonists, themselves immigrants, interpret her story on camera.

A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.

A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.

A young illusionist and magician finds a photo of her partner, who died in the last world war, with an old variety show assistant who makes a living as a street musician. This inspires him to search for the life story of this versatile artist.

A young illusionist and magician finds a photo of her partner, who died in the last world war, with an old variety show assistant who makes a living as a street musician. This inspires him to search for the life story of this versatile artist.

Maria, a young migrant from southern Italy, recounts her exile in Frankfurt with Giacomo, whom she married against her parents’ wishes in the hope of a better life. To avoid breaking the code of silence that prevails in her region of origin, other protagonists, themselves immigrants, interpret her story on camera.