Tuesday, October 28th, 2008...5:10 am
DVD “Killing Kasztner”
Bargaining With the Devil
Documentary Focuses on Rudolf Kasztner, Shoa Traitor — Or Hero<“I started the film,” Ross said, “with the [Bertolt] Brecht quote ‘Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.’ And why do we need heroes?” Given the powerful and tragic responses to Kasztner, she added, “I think the very nature of needing heroes gets us into a lot of trouble.” Significantly, Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, initially did not acknowledge Kasztner among those whom it honored as rescuers. Only very recently, under pressure from those he saved, did it change its stance. “To a large degree,” Ross said, the world of Holocaust museums “didn’t really talk about Jewish rescuers. That’s a new conversation, even in the last few years.” Pointing to the emotional turmoil that the Kasztner trial caused in the young State of Israel, which hadn’t even begun to deal with the effect of the Holocaust on the nation’s psyche, she said, “The story of Kasztner is the story of Israel in many ways,” she said. The documentary had its Israeli premiere October 19 at the Haifa International Film Festival. more@Forward.com
3 Comments
October 28th, 2008 at 8:13 am
B”H
What is it about Kasztner still fascinating many people ?
Was he guilty or not guilty ?
However, hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews ended up in the gas chambers of Auschwitz and they main questions remains:
Why escaped 1700 Jews on the Kasztner train and no one else was warned ?
An immense difficult subject and it probably is “not knowing the truth or not having a logical explanation” what keeps us researching.
Thanks for your information on the movie !
November 19th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
The question is an simple one, If Kasztner did no existed, would more Hungarian Jews be killed or more Hungarian Jews would have been saved?
July 26th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
This is exactly the point stated by a previous poster. Kastner should have warned the Jews because many Hungarian jews had very good relationships with the non-jews and could have been saved. I know this for a fact because of my family’s own history. It is this legacy that Kastner helped suppress the truth which is what most Hungarians who knew of him criticized him for along with everything else. Yes, had he warned the others then he would have been killed. But this is what separates a hero from a self-opportunist. I understand he was trying to survive. But saving the rich is not an act of heroism AT ALL.
Leave a Reply