it is little mentioned in the memoirs and testimonies of Theresienstadt survivors, and was only rediscovered in fragmentary form in 1994. In an attempt to preserve its credibility and preeminence as a humanitarian organization while reports on the mass extermination of Jews continued to reach the Western Allies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) requested to visit Theresienstadt in November 1943. On 23 June 1944, Maurice Rossel, an ICRC delegate, and two Danish officials went on a tour of Theresienstadt. In preparation for the visit, the Germans "beautified" and cleaned the camp prior to arrival and arranged cultural activities to give the appearance of a happy, industrious community. To cover up the endemic overpopulation of the camp, thousands of people were deported to Auschwitz before the arrival of the Red Cross delegation. In his report, Rossel claimed that Jews were treated well and not deported from Theresienstadt. Rossel gave copies of photographs he took during the visit to the German Foreign Ministry, which used them to claim that Jews were treated well under Nazi rule. Filming Preparations for a second Theresienstadt film, again sponsored by Günther rather than Goebbels, began concurrently with the "beautification" of the ghetto prior to the Red Cross visit. Günther's Central Office, which was funded by stolen Jewish property, paid a Czech company, Aktualita, 350,000 Czech koruna (35,000 Reichsmarks) to produce the film. In December 1943, a prisoner, probably Jindřich Weil, was ordered to write a script, and he finished two drafts by March. On 20 January 1944, the Nazis filmed the arrival of a transport of Danish Jews and a welcome speech by Paul Eppstein, with a view of including it in a later film. There was no effort to complete the film before the Red Cross visit and screen it to the guests. Karel Margry, a Dutch historian who has studied the Theresienstadt propaganda films, argues that the "beautification" efforts had a higher priority, and that the propaganda would be more effective if filmed after the ghetto had been beautified. Kurt Gerron, a leading German Jewish actor and director, had fled to the Netherlands and was deported from Westerbork to Theresienstadt in February 1944. In July, the film project was revived and Gerron was ordered to write a script, which was used in the film. While the script has traditionally been credited to Gerron, it closely adhered to Weil's draft and the