More than 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, and “Who Will Write Our History” doesn’t let you forgot it.
The Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre was just one of the 200 venues and 40 countries that showed “Who Will Write Our History” on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In 1941, the Holocaust began, but in Warsaw, Poland, the suffering had already started, as the Warsaw Ghetto was formed and closed off — holding 300,000 to 400,000 people, primarily Jews, captive.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
With the start of the ghetto, an organization using the code name Oyneg Shabbos was formed to preserve Jewish culture.
The only documentation of Jews happening during the Holocaust was ‘through a German lens,’ as Jewish historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum and leader of the Oyneg Shabbos put it.
Throughout the film, we see videos and photos of Jews taken by the German military showing them as dirty and weak — though this was German propaganda to make it easier for Polish and German people to turn their backs on their Jews friends or neighbors.
The German’s leave out the fact the Jews were starving or dirty because their lives were stripped from them, given no food, opportunities or homes — having to do whatever was necessary to survive.
A question raised during the film was whether the Jews were callous or brave, as they soon are able to walk past dead or dying people on the street. Did they feel nothing for each other anymore, or did they try to save what little they had left for their own starving families?
To be able to adapt as their children, partners, parents and friends died around them showed tremendous bravery, which the Nazi’s couldn’t even take away from them.
And the Oyneg Shabbos wanted to show the truth of who these Jews really were.
They formed an organization that was made up of all kinds of Jewish people from walks of life and their duty was to document it all — on the idea everything was important.
The members created an intelligent working system to collect and document this information, keeping it safe, with the location of the information hidden from almost all members — as the German punishment for this would be death.
The movie title itself poses a question, “Who Will Write Our History,” and while the members of Oyneg Shabbos may have been the writers, the stories are not only their own, but everyday Jewish people.
Ringelblum wanted all Jews to be remembered — not just the rabbis or the rich but all people because he believed every person’s story was equally important.
Viewers may wonder why this archive from years ago matters or why we still need to talk about the Holocaust. But the rise of anti-Semitic views or nonbelievers has not reduced in recent years, especially with these negative beliefs tied to the national Women’s March leadership and the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the United States at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 people.
“Who Will Write Our History” reminds us that we cannot forget our history, even if your heritage is not directly tied to the Holocaust — anti-Semitism is one of the many groups formed through hating of others, a hatred for those who are “different.”
If we don’t believe in the Holocaust or remember it, we are opening ourselves up to a world filled with hatred and anger towards people’s differences.
The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto fought to have their story told, to not be forgotten — let’s do our part now and not forget them.
Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @alex_brizee