Rex Bloomstein
Auschwitz and the Allies, Part 2
Summary
Rex Bloomstein discusses and shows part 2 of his film Auschwitz and the Allies, which reviews the evolution of policies toward Jews in Nazi Germany from deportation to extermination. Additionally it examines the disbelief and inaction among the Allies, and questions the extent to which they are responsible for the atrocities. Part 2 of 2.
Rex Bloomstein
Rex Bloomstein has produced films on human rights, crime and punishment, and the Holocaust. He pioneered the modern prison documentary with films such as Lifers (1983) and Strangeways (1980), which won two British Academy Awards. As well as other television productions such as Auschwitz and the Allies, and his three-part history of anti-Semitism, The Longest Hatred, he produced KZ, described as one of the first post-modern Holocaust documentaries. Other feature documentaries include An Independent Mind (2008), on freedom of expression, This Prison Where I Live (2010), on imprisoned Burmese comedian, Zarganar, and The World of Jewish Humor (1990), which traces the evolution of Jewish humor from New York’s turn-of-the-century Lower East Side to the present.
Well, they were a religious minority, and like all religious minority, they were targets. Whole debate about religion and organised religion, the Catholic, the Protestant church is in, it’s a very interesting one. But it’s a complicated debate.
Yes, yes, well, I mean, there’s a huge debate about him. I think he had to be urged to set up the war refugee board. He was pretty indifferent. I mean, I’ve read much of that. And I remember our research, Roosevelt, who was a great president, there seems to be a tremendous blind spot here. And he never acted as he should have done with his principles. And it’s a tremendous blot, I think, on his record.