Indie Israel - "Killing Kasztner"

Last night in Tel Aviv, my N.I.S., or New Israeli Shorty (not to be confused with Israel's currency), took me to a screening of the documentary Killing Kasztner by Gaylen Ross. The film was less of a premeditated choice and more of a, "it's the only movie playing in English at the Cinematek where my girl can get us free tickets" situation. Nevertheless, I threw on the same clothes as the day before (I'm coming home in 2 days, nevvvs would I pay for laundry) and strolled down Ibn Gabriol to meet her.

It's always tough seeing Holocaust films, especially in Israel, and I, like many, have yet to become desensitized to the inhumane, systematic, murder of six million Jewish people. However, this documentary shed light on a story unfamiliar even to native Israelis - my NIS confessed she hadn't heard of Kasztner.

The rundown:

Killing Kasztner is the story of a Hungarian Jew named Dr. Israel Kasztner, his murder, and the complexities behind his role in the Holocaust and how it is chronicled (or not, for that matter) in Israel's annals.

Dr. Israel Kasztner played a major role in rescuing sixteen hundred Hungarian Jews from their death in 1944. At a time when there were no options for Jews, Kasztner negotiated with a high ranking SS officer, Adolf Eichmann, to purchase these Jews (many of whom were family and friends) and send them on a train to safety. The film argues that Kasztner's actions were heroic; an act which resulted in the most lives saved by a Jew during the Nazi regime. His opponents - many of whom were right wing Zionists - claim that he caused more death through his dealings with Adolf, and that the act of negotiating with the Nazi's was traitorous, thus, negating this claimed altruism. Kasztner's tactics of bribery over resistance - a popular, albeit hopeless method for trying to save lives - was met with denouncement, resulting in his assassination in 1957 in Tel Aviv. Through Ross's lens, we see the remaining Kasztner family's struggle for recognition, and a powerful anecdote of the killing by the assassin, Ze'ev Eckstein.

I won't give away the entire story, because this one's def worth a top spot on your Netflix cue.

I'm coming home Mom!