We watched "Escape from Sobibor" this weekend. It's a 1987 TV movie depicting the attempt to free all 600 prisoners held at a Nazi death camp in Poland. These prisoners were laborers, spared solely to keep the camp running and the Nazi staff booted and suited. It's estimated that nearly 200,000 Jews of all ages were gassed in the Sobibor extermination chambers shortly after they arrived at the camp. Boxcar after boxcar of Czech, Slovak, Austrian, German, Polish and Dutch Jews were murdered systematically.
One of the most chilling moments for me was the confrontation between one of the laborers and an SS member. The latter had no idea the escape plan was in operation and that his minutes on earth were few. He was in the face of the laborer, asking him in a smarmy way, "What is your Christian name?" He repeated the question and the prisoner enunciated these words: "I have no Christian name. I have a Jewish name. It is Hershel Zukerman."
Movies about the Holocaust continue to be made. I will continue to watch them. But I don't watch them in the hope of understanding how the Holocaust happened. "Avenge us!" one man shouted to his fellow Jews just before he was shot by guards. Remember you, acknowledge your existence as a human being -- that I can do.
One of the most chilling moments for me was the confrontation between one of the laborers and an SS member. The latter had no idea the escape plan was in operation and that his minutes on earth were few. He was in the face of the laborer, asking him in a smarmy way, "What is your Christian name?" He repeated the question and the prisoner enunciated these words: "I have no Christian name. I have a Jewish name. It is Hershel Zukerman."
Movies about the Holocaust continue to be made. I will continue to watch them. But I don't watch them in the hope of understanding how the Holocaust happened. "Avenge us!" one man shouted to his fellow Jews just before he was shot by guards. Remember you, acknowledge your existence as a human being -- that I can do.