JERUSALEM — When Hollywood releases a historical drama, it often reignites conversations about the past. The psychological thriller “Nuremberg” is doing just that.
The film stars Russell Crowe as Nazi leader Hermann Göring and recreates the postwar Nuremberg trials that exposed Nazi atrocities against Jews to the world. With antisemitism again making global headlines, the film has struck a powerful chord with audiences in Israel.
“I think everyone needs to see this movie,” said moviegoer Itto Newman. “It’s living evidence that everything can happen again.”
Another viewer, Deborah Cohen, described the film as authentic and emotionally impactful. “It was very genuine,” she said. “It was very real.”
For some viewers, the film provides a jarring visual depiction of genocide. Newman said that while Holocaust education is common in Israeli schools, the film offered a new perspective.
“We’ve been to Poland in high school in Israel,” he said. “But I think it was the first time I got to see an authentic German reaction to that. That was very surprising.”
Others see the film as a reminder of the massive scale of Jewish suffering. “The ‘Final Solution’ — six million people were killed in six years,” said Judith Heisler, another moviegoer. “I hope this movie does well for the sake of the world, for humanity, for the sake of the Jews.”
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The film portrays Göring as a central architect of the Nazis’ so-called “Final Solution,” the systematic obliteration of Europe’s Jewish population.
Dr. Charles Asher Small, founder of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, said the film underscores how civilization itself was shattered under Nazi rule. “Not only were six million Jews murdered,” Small said, “but civilization was destroyed.”
Small emphasized the importance of Holocaust education, noting how a democratic society was undermined by extremism. He added that the Nuremberg trials became a foundation for modern international law.
“The Nuremberg laws gave way to international human rights laws and the creation of the United Nations,” Small said, which he said was intended to defend against radical, anti-democratic ideologies and promote human rights.
Eighty years later, antisemitism is again surging worldwide — a reality that resonates deeply at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial. “Yad Vashem has the biggest Holocaust archive in the world,” said Malky Weisburg, a guide at the memorial whose parents both survived the Holocaust.
Room by room, visitors confront the raw reality of Nazi hatred. Weisburg described how the Nazis’ goal was annihilation. “No Jew will remain alive anywhere in the world,” she said. “That gives us a very clear definition of genocide.”
Yad Vashem documents how the Holocaust began with bias, misinformation, and dehumanizing language. “It shows the way Hitler and his collaborators were able to take words and turn them into murder,” Weisburg said.
As antisemitism continues to rise globally, many hope “Nuremberg” will do more than entertain — and instead educate a new generation about the consequences of unchecked hatred.
“We have to educate. We have to disseminate the information,” Weisburg said. “And yes, we have to fight antisemitism. I remain hopeful.”
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