First films of the Holocaust

Viac o knihe

Most early Western perceptions of the Holocaust relied on Allied newsreels from 1945, overshadowing the initial wave of material from Soviet filmmakers, who were the first to document these horrors. Jeremy Hicks presents a pioneering study of Soviet contributions to the public's understanding of Nazi atrocities. Before the war, the Soviet film *Professor Mamlock*, released in the U.S. in 1938 alongside the Kristallnacht pogrom, bolstered anti-Nazi sentiment. However, these films were often dismissed or banned in the West as Communist propaganda. Ironically, during the Nazi-Soviet alliance from 1939 to 1941, such films were also banned in the Soviet Union, only to be reclaimed after the Nazi invasion in 1941, and suppressed again during the Cold War. Hicks recovers significant Soviet depictions of the Holocaust, analyzing them within their political contexts. Wartime films primarily showcased Soviet resistance and calls for vengeance, neglecting the specific targeting of Jewish victims. Personal testimonies were largely absent, creating a disconnection between viewers and victims. Hicks scrutinizes correspondence, scripts, and film edits to reveal the suppressed Jewish narratives. He argues that the films' silences and omissions convey profound meaning. Furthermore, he explores why Soviet Holocaust films have been erased from collective memory in the West and the Soviet Union, citing their graphic content, propaganda use, and t