First Films of the Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and the Genocide of the Jews, 1938-1946 by Jeremy Hicks (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 893 Hicks, Jeremy. First Films of the Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and the Genocide of the Jews, 1938–1946. Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA. 2012. xi + 300 pp. Map. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Filmography. Index. $28.95 (paperback). Jeremy Hicks has written an excellent book on a subject that does not really exist. Of course, the author knows better than anyone that the Soviet film industry did not make films about the Holocaust. What he shows instead is that Soviet filmmakers — those who made documentaries and those who made feature films — were able realistically to depict Nazi inhumanity and that depiction also included the murder of Jews even if their Jewishness was not mentioned. The genuine passion, the realism of the artists produced works that have never become outdated, and form a genre of its own. The Germans fought a different war in the East than in the West and the examples of German bestiality that could serve as raw materials were limitless. Soviet cameramen showed a war that Western audiences never saw and never understood. In fact it seems that Westerners for their own reasons never wanted to understand. Jeremy Hicks is an excellent guide. He knows the secondary literature on the war and on the Holocaust, and as a literary critic he is able to analyse the few films that he discusses in detail in an insightful and intelligent fashion. The most valuable part of the book is in which he discusses individual films and documentaries. It is particularly moving to see Jewish cameramen and directors knowing full well that the Nazis had ‘a different policy’ to Jews than to other conquered people, but were never able to show that in their final products. The censors removed reference to the Jewishness of the victims and only once in a while could some reference of the nationality of the victims appear in the final products. Hicks is not very much interested in the politics of Soviet antisemitism. He does point out that while the Red Army was fighting the Nazis, who aimed to eliminate Jews, Soviet state sponsored antisemitism not only not declined but even increased. Before the war it was possible to make an anti-fascist film in which the central victim was obviously a Jew. The hero suffered because he was Jewish. During the war such a film could not have been made. The Nazis propagated the idea, (something in which they genuinely believed), that their enemies were fighting for Jewish interests. Not only the leadership of the Soviet Union, but also that of Great Britain and the United States attempted to avoid that trap and made it evident that saving Jews was not the central purpose of their war effort. For the Soviet leadership it was particularly important, for the Nazis made it a central feature of their propaganda that Jews and Communists were really the same and constantly talked about JudeoBolshevism . Such efforts were not without impact. The identification of Jews and Communists harmed the cause of both. It is difficult if not impossible to understand Stalin’s motivations, but it appears that in the course of the 1940s SEER, 91, 4, OCTOBER 2013 894 he became increasingly antisemitic. But even aside from his prejudices there were good propaganda considerations not to stress the attempted genocide of the Jews by the Germans. Hicks devotes considerable attention to the reception of Soviet films and documentaries in the West. He correctly argues that Western audiences failed to appreciate and understand Soviet films and the depictions of Nazi barbarities committed on the Eastern front. Neither during nor after the war could they fit into the perception of Western audiences that the Soviet people won the war and in the process suffered incomparable losses. After 1945 neither in Communist nor in Western countries did people regard the Holocaust as a central issue for which the war was fought. One or two generations had to pass before we came to regard the murder of the Jews as an example of ultimate evil. Stevenson College Peter Kenez University of California, Santa Cruz Wilson, Andrew. The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation. Third edition. Yale University Press...