Oct 26 2009, 2:58PM
"Kasztner" Makes an Impact Once Again
This
brilliant documentary seeks to establish the hero status of Rudolf Kasztner. Kasztner successfully bargained with Adolf
Eichmann to save the lives of approximately 1,600 Jews, who were transported out of
Hungary to Switzerland, and an additional 19,000 Jews who were sent to work camps instead of
death camps. Shortly before the end of
World War II, Eichmann masterminded the killing of near 600,000
Hungarian Jews.
Kasztner
ends up in living in Palestine under the British mandate, and eventually becomes a member of the Ben-Gurion
government in the new state of Israel. Another Israeli calls him a Holocaust collaborator, who is then sued by the Israeli
government for libel. The judge overseeing
the case believes Kasztner lied about certain documents and acquits Kasztner's alleged slanderer. Ultimately
the Israeli Supreme Court reverses the judgment, but Kasztner's reputation is
never fully restored.
The
documentary spectacularly sets forth what occurred and establishes, to my
satisfaction, that Kasztner was a hero. Kasztner
is killed shortly after the first trial finding him to be a collaborator. His assassin, who is presented in the film,
comes to the conclusion that he was wrong. He now believes that Kasztner was a hero bargaining with the Nazis to
release Jews in exchange for money - $1000 for each Jew.
The
movie contains a number of enthralling vignettes. One of those is about the Satmar's founding
rabbi, Joseph Teitelbaum, who was saved by Kasztner by being placed on the
train to Switzerland. When asked to
appear at the Israeli Court on behalf of Kasztner, he refused, saying that Kasztner
did not save him, God did. The Satmar,
one of the largest Hasidic groups in New York City, is centered in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
"Killing
Kasztner" will cause you to weep, even without displaying heartrending concentration camps scenes where six million Jews died.
As far as the world is concerned, the Holocaust appears to be slipping
into ancient history, like the days of Rome and Athens.
I
urge everyone, Jew and Gentile, to see this film and meet the surviving family members
of Rudolf Kasztner, particularly his wife and daughter. It is playing at the Cinema Village on East
12th Street, between Fifth Avenue and University Place. The theater was near full when I went, and the
audience appeared to consist of elderly Jews, some of whom may have been
survivors.
Excellent review. Killing Kasztner is a remarkable film. I absolutely agree that this is a film everyone should see. Kasztner's impact was, and still is, far too large to be allowed to be forgotten.
Did the despicable Institute for Historical Review have something to do with this film?
Nobody says that Kasztner didn't help SOME Jews. But he betrayed the majority of them.
Eichmann also helped SOME Jews, while orchestrating the murder of millions. Does his helping a small number of Jews make Eichmann a candidate for historical revisionism too?
How many people have read Ben Hecht's "Perfidy"? It was about more than Kasztner. It opened a peep-hole into the Jewish Establishment & its Judenrat component that cooperated with the Nazis right from the beginning.
The facts of the original charges against Kasztner have never been refuted. The actions of the Israeli Supreme Court were intended to stop further investigation into others (such as George Soros) who, like Kasztner, found it to their advantage to trade the lives of Jews for their own personal safety and well-being. Had there been a proper investigation, in all likelihood Ben Gurion and many others would've been indicted and hung for their complicity.
The release of this particular film is (coincidentally?) well timed, helping confuse people about the true nature of the new Judenrat: J-Street.
By working to displace 300,000 Jews from their legal property in Judea & Samaria, J-Street shows its true purpose.
Simply put, Judenrat Street is helping the inheritors of the NSDAP project.
We need a new Ben Hecht to write about and expose this horrible truth before it goes too far.
Kasztner was a criminal, and he committed crimes against the Jewish people. This difficult truth must never be forgotten.