The premiere of the film by Konstantin Khabensky 'Sobibor' took place in New York

“In Russian history, the topic of the Jewish Holocaust, raised in the film, was taboo,” said professor Olga Gershenson at yesterday’s premiere in New York.

Veterans of the Second World War and prisoners of the Holocaust with the main director of the film “Sobibor” Konstantin Khabensky and the President of the Russian-American Foundation Marina Kovaleva. Photo from the archives of the Russian-American Foundation

An exclusive screening of the Russian 2019 Oscar contender, the film Sobibor, took place yesterday at the National Arts Club. Director and leading actor Konstantin Khabensky attended the event and addressed the audience with an opening speech as part of a discussion group, and also held a question and answer session.

The film, first released in Poland on April 23, marks the 75 anniversary of the uprising in the Nazi death camp Sobibor. Led by a Soviet Jewish officer, Alexander Pechersky, this uprising was the only successful protest of prisoners during World War II and marked the strength of the human spirit, the ability to fight evil in the midst of true horror. However, the uprising never attracted widespread public attention, in part because Sobibor was one of the smallest Nazi death camps.

Phil Friedman, vice chairman of Yeshiva University; board member of Yahad-in Unum, an organization dedicated to uncovering mass graves of Jews killed during World War II in Central Europe; Member of the Executive Committee of the Institute of Human Rights named after. Tom Lantos in Budapest, Hungary; Member of the Board of the American Society Yad Vashem

The discussion group, which appeared after the show, was presented by the director and actor Konstantin Khabensky, Dr. of Brooklyn College Robert Shapiro, political scientist Dr. Nikolai Zlobin and Professor of the University of Massachusetts Olga Gershenson, who moderated the conversation.

“In Russian history, the topic of the Jewish Holocaust, raised in the film, was banned or destroyed. This film is revolutionary because the Jewish history of the Holocaust is an uncomfortable topic in Russia today,” Gershenson said.

(From left to right) Dr. Nikolai Zlobin, Dr. Robert Shapiro, Professor Olga Gershenson, Konstantin Khabensky and his translator Samuel Davis discuss the film after the show

“The fact that this film received support from the Russian Ministry of Culture and other serious government agencies demonstrates that raising this topic publicly has gradually become acceptable,” Khabensky said. He added that the film would "expand human memory" of the Holocaust:

“This film demonstrates that the topic of the Holocaust is alive and no one is indifferent to it. It's designed to wake us up, upset us, and make us stop being ashamed of crying."

Audience asks the director and actor Konstantin Khabensky about the film

The show was visited by people who survived the Holocaust, as well as the direct descendants and relatives of those who died in Sobibor.

Among the spectators was a large family of Karolina Kohn from Frankfurt, Germany, who was killed at Sobibor at the age of 14. I was contacted by my family about a year ago, when archaeologists discovered a pendant of Carolina among the graves in the camp.

Her closest relative, Barry Eismann, said that he could not find the words when Mandy's daughter called him and reported the news. The cousins ​​said that the discovery united them as a family, because they did not know about Caroline and about each other. One of the family members admitted that she did not even know that she had Jewish roots.

Konstantin Khabensky with the family of Karolina Kohn, 14-year-old girl, who died in Sobibor

Located in Poland, Sobibor operated from the spring of 1942 until October 15, 1943, killing more than 250 Jews. In October 000, three hundred Sobibor prisoners managed to kill 1943 SS officers and break through the gate to hide in the nearby forest. The original plan was to secretly kill all the officers and exit the main gate. However, after the murder of a dozen officers, the rebel prisoners were discovered and had to leave the camp under fire.

By the end of World War II, only 50 prisoners survived, including Pechersk prisoners.

In 2016, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Bravery by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The heroes of Sobibor also received official recognition - streets and trains were named after them, and they were written about in history books. Today, the history of Sobibor becomes a symbol of human strength and resilience for future generations.

Question and answer session with director Konstantin Khabensky after the film was shown

The premiere of the film “Sobibor” in New York was made possible thanks to the efforts of the production center “Cinema Production” and the Alexander Pechersky Foundation with the support of the Russian-American Foundation represented by President Marina Kovaleva, as well as the American Jewish Congress, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC ), the Brownstone Experience Foundation and COJECO.

Contacts:
Victoria gumennaya
Special Projects & Exhibits
Russian American Foundation
1560 Broadway, Suite 500
New York, NY 10036
Tel: 212-687-6118, ext. Xnumx
Fax: 212-687-5558

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Konstantin Khabensky showed the film 'Sobibor' at the UN headquarters in New York

From slaughter to revenge: Why the world still does not understand the Holocaust

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