Guest column: “Survivor” looks to history to understand our complex present

When producer Matti Lesche first brought me the script survivorI had a visceral reaction and knew I had to make a movie. In part because I knew members of my family who survived the Holocaust and saw the impact it had on their lives. More than that, because I have always been interested in telling the stories of the great immigrant experience that made this country what it is: a true melting pot that enjoyed a true diversity, not only of ethnicity, but of opinion. survivor It’s not so much a Holocaust film as a post-Holocaust film.

The true story of Harry Huft’s survival in the fields in re-enactments of gladiator combat is harrowing, but it is the effects of this life as he emerges from his trauma that the film focuses on. The fundamental history of the US is rooted in huge waves of immigration; Since World War II, only two countries have opened their doors to refugees, the United States and the new State of Israel. Harry could have chosen anyone, but he already had family in the US; When he was freed by American soldiers, he also felt an affinity for the country.

When I decided to make this film, I didn’t think I was telling any other story than Harry. In fact, the resonance survivor All very true today. While there is never a moral equivalence to the horrors of the Holocaust or any other genocide (I remember the word “genocide” was coined to describe this event), when I look around the world today, I marvel. Due to growing apathy towards the war in Ukraine. A war on the same European soil where tens of thousands of civilians are being killed today by an autocratic dictator. Just as the United States was slow to enter World War II (President Franklin D. Roosevelt took until 1942 to enter the war, despite the government’s awareness of Nazi atrocities), so, as a culture, we turn a blind eye to the Russian invasion and acts of terror when we are convinced that sending money and weapons is enough. Furthermore, the rise of neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism within our borders is on the rise. Of course, neo-Nazis don’t just target Jews, and they have a fierce hatred for African Americans and all non-white minorities. It’s hard to imagine fascists taking over our streets like they did in Nuremberg, but that’s certainly exactly what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

We now live in a world of total distrust. A world of villains. stables. Conspiracy theories. Where does all this go? During pre-production, we decided that we should visit Auschwitz before filming. The systematic extermination of millions of people is, to say the least, frightening. As we stood on top of one of the crematoria and listened to our guide, he took us back to the beginning of the Rise of the Nazi Party in the early 1930’s. I hate the Jews in their propaganda. A desire to return to a more glorious past. And Jewish principles lose their rights. As we were on the path leading to the crematorium, he continued, “This is a path built on hate. Who would have thought it would lead us to such horrors? “

The cry of “never again” was meant to unite us as a community around the common cause of not allowing genocide to return. Watching the movie I made many times reminds me of how we failed at this as a society. The consequences of racism and fascism that lead to war must always be unbearable for us.

This story first appeared in the separate August issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.