Claims Conference Screens Film “Reckonings” In Israel On Leading Documentary Channels To Commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Film Screening was Followed By A Dedicated Podcast Episode Facilitated by Professor Yuval Elbashan And Featuring Holocaust Survivor Colette Avital
On Tuesday, January 27, in observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Claims Conference in partnership with local broadcasting documentary networks, screened the film, Reckonings: The First Reparations, (2022). The film, which explores the dramatic and historic agreements between West Germany and the global Jewish community in the wake of World War II, will be broadcast on YES Docu and HOT 8. These screenings will be followed by a dedicated podcast discussion.
In addition to the documentary screening, a special podcast episode was moderated by Prof. Yuval Elbashan and featuring Colette Avital and Prof. Liat Steir-Livny. The discussion expanded on the film’s themes and to their moral, historical, and contemporary implications, seeking to redefine justice in an era where the direct voices of survivors are becoming increasingly rare.
Produced at by the Claims Conference and directed by award-winning documentarian, Roberta Grossman (Who Will Write Our History), Reckonings reveals the secret and stormy negotiations that led to the 1952 Luxembourg Agreements. Grossman masterfully transforms a complex issue into a gripping human and moral drama.
Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, said, “The historic agreement depicted in in the film Reckonings was a defining moment for global Jewry in the aftermath of the Holocaust. This little-known story of the individuals who sat across the table from the representatives of Germany to negotiate on behalf of the Holocaust survivors, the Jewish people and the State of Israel is both dramatic and also reflects a pivotal moment in history. It is a story that has resonance today and teaches us lessons for the future.”
Through rare archival footage and interviews with the last remaining witnesses and historians, the film depicts the seemingly insurmountable struggle led by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, who later founded the Claims Conference. Alongside the leadership of the young State of Israel and the newly formed West German government, they all attempted to answer the impossible: Can there be any compensation for genocide? How does one negotiate with “the devil”? The film examines the psychological and national toll of a decision that saved Israel’s economy but wounded its soul.
Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, said, “The measure of justice we have been able to achieve for Holocaust survivors around the world has been made possible through this first, incredible agreement. We know now that the willingness of the newly formed West German government to face the atrocities perpetrated by Nazis on European Jewry was a necessary first step for any atonement. While there is no way to make anyone whole for the trauma and violence endured during the Holocaust, the achievements today through various compensation programs is still meaningful to survivors alive today.”
