In “Die Koffer des Herrn Spalek”, we accompany John M. Spalek, a retired professor of German Studies, who conducts research in the United States about German emigrants between 1933 and 1945. Spalek’s work includes both the contact with emigrants and their relatives and interviews about personal memories, as well as the packing and storage of numerous documents, letters and other documents. Besides Spalek’s dedicated work, the film shows the work of the Exile Archive 1933-1945 at the German National Library in Frankfurt, which is working closely with Spalek and is archiving all documents sent by him. In his very personal, empathetic portrait, the Frankfurt based director Gregor Eppinger raises fundamental questions about memory and forgetting and dealing with history. *Teilnehmer des LICHTER Publikumspreises 2013* _In presence of the director Gregor Eppinger and the producer Reiner Kraus and Vita Spiess._