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       #Post#: 3045--------------------------------------------------
       THE LAST OF THE UNJUST (2013 documentary)
       By: agate Date: October 6, 2020, 1:23 am
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       THE LAST OF THE UNJUST (2013 documentary)
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       [font=verdana]
       This remarkable documentary may turn out to have more value as a
       contribution to the archival material documenting the Holocaust
       than for its cinematic merits. It consists almost entirely of
       Claude Lanzmann’s interview of Benjamin Murmelstein, the last of
       the “Jewish elders” in the Nazis’ “showcase” camp,
       Theresienstadt–interspersed with Lanzmann’s reflections, as a
       much older person, while at the Theresienstadt site. There is
       some footage from the Nazi propaganda film featuring the
       allegedly well-cared-for “residents” of Theresienstadt.[/font]
       [font=verdana]It helps to come to this film with some awareness
       of the facts of Murmelstein’s life. The title of the movie can
       be taken somewhat ironically, for instance, given the material
       presented in it. The movie has been accused of being merely an
       attempt at whitewashing a person whom many regarded as having
       betrayed his own people, and in his remarks Murmelstein shows
       very little feeling about any of his past actions.[/font]
       [font=verdana]But a premise underlying this movie may have been
       that those who weren’t part of the Holocaust experience can’t
       ever say how they would have behaved in those
       circumstances–precisely because the situation was unique–and so
       uniquely tragic that any judgment has to be withheld. So we have
       Murmelstein stating the facts as he knows them, with Lanzmann
       doing everyone an immense favor (in my opinion) by asking apt
       questions in a gently probing way.[/font]
       [font=verdana]Murmelstein knew Adolf Eichmann very well–and did
       his bidding, as later he was to follow the commands issued by
       his Nazi superiors in Theresienstadt. On the other hand, he was
       quietly maneuvering to arrange for Jews to find ways of getting
       out of the camps–and on to England or other countries where they
       could be safe. Perhaps he accepted bribes along the way, perhaps
       he did many shady deals, possibly for a complex variety of
       reasons. The movie is by no means an exploration of his
       misdeeds. But the fact is that he, as a respected rabbi and one
       of the “Jewish elders,” had considerable power, which he often
       wielded to help people escape.[/font]
       [font=verdana]He says at one point, “Who doesn’t like power?”
       and goes on to make it clear that he sees power as a way to help
       people. He had many opportunities for leaving the Reich, but
       when pressed about his reasons for staying, he first mentions
       his wife and child (who would have been left behind), then
       demurs, and finally comes up with: “Perhaps I had a thirst for
       adventure.”[/font]
       [font=verdana]So perhaps Murmelstein thrived on being at the
       center of the action. Perhaps, as the reviewer J. Hoberman
       asserts (review
       in[/font][font=verdana]Tablet[/font][font=verdana]), he had a
       “grandiose sense of himself.” To me he didn’t come across as
       someone determined to inflate his own importance in this film,
       however.[/font]
       [font=verdana]He seems like a very intelligent and highly
       educated man who was trying to do the best he could in an
       impossible situation.[/font]
       [font=verdana]The original interview took place in 1975.
       Murmelstein died in 1989. Lanzmann waited until 2013 to release
       this movie. Nearly 30 years elapsed between the time when
       Murmelstein talked to Lanzmann and the public’s exposure to
       those talks. The passage of so much time, and the fact that most
       survivors of the camps have now been silenced by death, should
       make this documentary, for all of its flaws, a very valuable
       record.[/font]
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