Named by LJ as one of the "Best Books of 1989," Lodz Ghetto, the book, was the companion piece for Lodz Ghetto, the film. Written by Alan Adelson, and co-directed by Adelson and Kathryn Taverna, Lodz Ghetto is also unquestionably one of the best films of 1989. Based on the diaries of Jewish residents of the "ghetto"--a sealed-off section of Lodz, Poland which imprisoned some 200,000 indigent and imported Jews from 1940-1944 (although, ultimately, only 800 would survive)--the film draws from a rare collection of thousands of photographs, some film footage from the period, and modern stills and film of Lodz, to tell the anguished stories of the people who lived and died there. The late Polish novelist Jerzy Kosinski appears as the "voice" of Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, the extremely complicated Jewish "leader" who served as both a liaison to the Nazis and as the bearer of bad tidings to the occupants of the Lodz Ghetto. While apparently believing that assisting the Third Reich was in the best interests of the Lodz Jews, he also had to deliver astonishing orders: 20,000 elderly and children to be deported (Rumkowski tearfully tells his audience that he talked the Nazis down from 24,000). Lodz Ghetto is a powerful film that deftly balances the horror, irony, and hope of the "voices" with the kind of sure handling of cinematic technique that informs only the best documentaries. Not a pleasant film to watch, but one which is riveting and, ultimately, perhaps a portable monument to the victims of Lodz. People will check this video out, and not only keep alive the memory of an impossibly sad chapter in history, but also remind themselves of how frighteningly simple it is for humankind to embrace and practice pure evil, without thinking. Highly recommended.
Lodz Ghetto
(1988) 103 min. The Jewish Heritage Project. Library Journal
Lodz Ghetto
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