THE FORGOTTEN RESISTANCE

:: in process::

Marek Edelman, Poland 1944 | Documentary Film on the Jewish Resistance to Holocaust in Occupied Europe, September 1939 - May 1945 90 minutes Written and directed by Fabienne Rousso-Lenoir Historical Consultants: - Dr. Robert Rozett, historian, director of the Yad Vashem Libraries - Pr. Lucien Lazare, historian, himself a resistant in Jewish and French movements, and an actual member of The Yad Vashem Commission for the Designation of the Righteous A few films have been made on the most well known events of Jewish resistance, on some of its regional aspects and on a specific personality or group. Survivors have spoken on some films. However, no documentary film to this day has presented all the different elements at play, the choices that existed, or the various factions involved. No film has given Jewish resistance its true place in the history of the Holocaust. In the wake of World War II, the Allies’ victory canonized national resistance to the enemy. The cliché of Jews going like sheep to Nazi slaughterhouses generally gains on people's mind. Jewish resistance was overshadowed by the enormity of the Holocaust. Yet, Jews did fight back against all odds. Very quickly and everywhere, even in the very depth of the slaughterhouse. With or without weapons in many different ways, Jews responded to the call of their special destiny, faced and fought the Nazis’ abjectness. Their fight was all the more significant that it had no chance of succeeding. It is surprising, given all that, how much they managed to accomplish.

Partisans, Lublin This film wants to honor a legacy and pass it on. It will show the inner necessity that made the Jews fight and resist, that of transmitting the vital force of Judaism’s universal humanitarian values, to which many chose to give their lives, in the spirit of a common destiny.

Members of the Jewish Army, Maquis de l’Espinassier (Tarn, France, May 1944)