Eleven Jewish bikers traveled from Israel to Germany for a dual cause: carry the torch for the European Jewish (Maccabi) Olympics opening ceremony and remember the Holocaust through personal stories. Catherine Lurie, the director of the feature-length documentary Back to Berlin, explained in an interview to the journalist Despina Afentouli how she perceived the position of the world and the Jewish people back in the 1930s and nowadays.
See the New York City Premiere of Back to Berlin on Saturday Feb 16, Block 5: 6:30pm -9:00pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
What inspired you to create a film on the 2015 European Maccabi Games opening ceremony in Germany?
The 1936 Olympics were used by Hitler as a propaganda platform to promote his Aryan ideal to participating nations. When he banned German-Jewish athletes there were threats of boycott from many countries. He relented but in essence only one half Jew, Helene Mayer, a fencer, who had already emigrated to the USA was able to compete. As portrayed in the film, the American track runners Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were dropped on the morning of their 100-meter relay to be replaced by the African-Americans Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe.
As Jews were increasingly banned from local and national sporting clubs, the Maccabi movement decided to hold the “Jewish Olympics” for the first time in Tel Aviv in 1932. To promote these games, teams of bikers set out from Tel Aviv to all corners of Europe and eventually to America and to find athletes to compete. Now one of the largest sporting events in the world, with over 10,000 participating athletes, the Games are organized by the Maccabi World Union (MWU) and are open to Jewish athletes from all over the world, as well as all Israeli athletes regardless of religion.
In 2013 I produced a short film on the fascinating stories of the 1930’s bikers. While interviewing the Chairman of MWU, his words “the Maccabi bikers saved my family from the nails of the Nazis’ would resonate with me. His mother and uncle attended the 1932 Games and later decided to flee to the British Mandate of Israel as persecution increased, thus saving their entire family.
When I heard that the German Government and Makkabi Deutschland would host the European Games at the site of the infamous 1936 Olympics, I decided to capture this ironic and iconic moment. I would create a 21st Century mission where 11 bikers would fly the Israeli flag and carry the Maccabiah torch, a symbol of light and life of the Jewish people from Tel-Aviv back to Berlin to confront the past and address the present.
What is the message to the world through your film?
As resurgent populism, intolerance and anti-Semitism are once again gathering strength, I wanted to deliver an important message through the voices of those who have been personally affected by one of the darkest pages in human history. Back to Berlin is a cautionary tale but also a story of reconciliation and hope. It is not simply a “Jewish” story; it is one of defiance and survival of people overcoming the worst of inhumanity to reinstate our common humanity. Throughout the documentary comparisons are made between the “old Jew”, who is scarred and fearful, and the “New Jew”, who is physically strong and unafraid to fight injustice.
In your film, you present the stories or family stories of 11 Jewish bikers on a journey from Israel to Germany. What other sources have you used to make the film?
We sourced footage and stills from archives from all over the world including those never seen before of the bikers’ journeys of 1930’s from the archives of the Maccabi World Union Museum. Stills were also given by the individual modern day bikers to collaborate their stories and bring them to life.
In your opinion, to what extent has the initial message of the Jewish bikers towards the Jewish communities changed nowadays?
This is a fascinating question because the message of the 1930’s bikers and the 2015 bikers in essence has changed very little. All missions have I believe imbued fearful Jewish communities then and now with hope and gallantry. In the early 1930s the riders were seeking athletes to participate in the 1932 games and promoting the idea of refuge outside of Europe.
In 2015 the bikers strived to reignite a spirit of pride and strength within the much-diminished European Jewish communities who once again fear an upsurge in anti-Semitism, particularly in countries like Greece, Hungary and Poland.
“…Just remember. For by remembering we honor their deaths, and we save them from dying again – in oblivion”: In your film, you refer to a poem written by Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Why do you think it is important to remember and tell these stories?
The memory of the Holocaust must be kept alive in current conversation as a reminder of the dangers of extremism and the importance of tolerance between cultures. As iterated in the poem by Martin Niemoller “First they came..”, it is essential for humans to look out for and protect one another beyond matters of self-interest, in order to assure mutual survival.
Remembering how entire nations managed to abandon so many of their citizens to persecution and extermination, reminds us how crucial it is to actively prevent such atrocities from occurring again. Sadly, we have not learnt from the past and are still passive onlookers to atrocities as they unfold in front of our eyes.
Why is it often attempted in the film to make the Jewish bikers experience the conditions the Jewish went through during the Holocaust?
As witnessed in the film, many of the bikers were unaware of the full extent of the horrors perpetrated during the Holocaust until they experience first hand stories detailing long held personal traumas. When they board the hot train carriage in Thessaloniki to hear Kobi’s story of how his grandmother was shipped to Auschwitz on a brutal 10 day journey, they begin to truly empathize with what their ancestors endured.
For Yoram, it was a chance to finally unburden himself of the weight of his 70-year old story to his son. It was important for the bikers’ sense of understanding to put themselves in the shoes of those victimised in an attempt to reconcile the stories they had heard growing up with the actual emotional experience. As stated by Hila in the film, the descendants of survivors don’t “deal with [the horrors of what happened] on a daily basis”, and it is only by actively engaging themselves in a journey like this one that the events seem much less “far away.”
Questions raised in the film include why God or other countries did not prevent the Holocaust and why the Jews did not fight for their lives – except for one case of Jewish resistance mentioned. What is your personal interpretation of these?
Self-preservation is a strong instinct among humans, but oftentimes protecting oneself comes at the expense of others. I think in the case of outside intervention, many countries at the time offered their sympathy as depicted in the Evian and Bermuda conferences sequence when the world shut its gates to Jewish refugees. Additionally, the Nazi propaganda machine was highly effective and convinced many in the general public that things were not that bad, and therefore it did not warrant full-scale intervention.
As far as the apparent lack of Jewish resistance, I think it needs to be understood that by the time communities were being rounded up and exterminated, the Jewish people had already been submitted to a steadily increasing regime of dehumanisation and degradation that lead to a completely reduced sense of self. Each time a new law came into effect to limit the rights of Jewish citizens, it seemed that rock bottom had been reached and things would only get plateau and then get better. It has been said many times that whilst the pessimists fled to the likes of Israel and New York, the optimists stayed behind and went to Auschwitz.
Rise of populism, economic collapse, record high unemployment, shrinking of middle class, rising poverty, refugee crisis, closed borders, and Brexit are just some of the issues that perhaps “re-shape” Europe nowadays. In your opinion, to what extent are there similarities between xenophobia, extreme national pride, fascism, authoritarianism, populism and nationalism of the 1930s and the politics nowadays?
Unfortunately, history does always seem to have a way of repeating itself, and this decade has proved no different. There has been a rise in recent years in antisemitism within Europe and America, with killings in and outside synagogues and bombings of schools and shops.
Anti-Jewish feeling has been rife within Muslim communities for decades, but in more recent years the rise of right-wing political groups has seen anti-Semitic propaganda become more mainstream and in Europe anti-Israel sentiment is growing from the far left. Therefore alarming parallels can easily be drawn between this and the political spectrum of the 1930s which is why the film is topical and relevant.
Not all European countries had the same stance towards Nazi Germany: others resisted, joined the Allied nations, surrendered, declared neutrality or co-operated with the Axis powers. However, it was mentioned in your film that Jews have a conflict to show their identity in Europe, no matter the country. Why?
Anti-Semitism has long been rife the world over, and did not cease at the end of the European Holocaust. Many Jews today are being raised to be wary of publicizing their cultural identities too much, and face a constant struggle between expressing pride in their heritage and making themselves vulnerable to abuse. Immigrating to Israel is becoming evermore appealing in light of the recent rise of attacks in France and the UK, and ironically, Germany has now become a destination for Israeli immigrants.
Whilst anti-Semitism became unfashionable in Europe for a time after the end of the Second World War, it has sadly not disappeared. This was confirmed to me when I tried to recruit a professional motorcyclist from Hungary who was afraid to take part in the film for fear of losing her job and sponsorship deals if they publicly revealed their Jewish background.
Although I have studied the subject of the Holocaust discovering the story of Romania was something new for me in that it was not only the Nazis who perpetrated atrocities during the Holocaust. It is therefore amazing that its bordering country, Bulgaria eventually lobbied their King to stop the deportations and save many of its Jews.
According to Alberto Nar’s article published by the Holocaust Museum of Greece, the 1943 official letter of protest signed in Athens by Archbishop Damaskinos and 27 prominent leaders of organizations “is unique in the whole of occupied Europe”, highlighting the “unbreakable bonds between Christian Orthodox and Jews” and “identifying them jointly as Greeks”. Yet, it was stated in your film that the Israel flag is the only flag in the world that you cannot raise in Greece so easily. How do you explain this contradiction?
When visiting members of the community in Athens and Thessaloniki, we were shocked to find many of them fearful of any repercussions if we flew the Israeli flag in their cities. In our interview with the Head of Maccabi Greece, he reasoned that the upsurge of anti-Semitism could be attributed to the poor economic situation in Greece.
We were honoured to be invited by the Mayor of Thessaloniki and spent a wonderful evening with fellow bikers of the oldest Greek biking club to discover that some of their past members had met the 1930’s bikers.
It is wonderful to know that the Greek Orthodox Church tried to protect the Jews of Greece but unfortunately their effort was in vain.
You were the script writer, the director, and the producer of your film. What was the biggest challenge you experienced, while making that film?
My challenge was to approach the subject of the Holocaust in a unique way. I believe I accomplished this using the bikers’ journey to show what happened in the eight countries through which we travelled.
To take some 25 people i.e. cast and production crew through eight countries to meet a deadline in order to deliver the torch to the Opening Ceremony was obviously a challenge but because I had a great Line Producer and excellent production team, this went smoothly.
As each new personal story unfolded, it further galvanized the team to accomplish the mission in an act of defiance as they learnt more about their shared histories. At times it was emotionally draining but the belief and investment of the entire team in the importance of the journey kept moral high to the end.
How long did it take to produce that film?
The production process really started when I made my first short film about the original bikers for an LA broadcaster back in 2013. It was 9 months later while attending a conference that I heard that Germany would host the European Maccabi Games at the infamous 1936 Olympic Stadion in 2015. It has therefore taken 5 years to complete this project of passion and has been my learning curve into the fascinating world of film and the media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbvG9Aq9NmQ
Despina Afentouli
Dr. Despina Afentouli (www.afentouli.com) is a journalist, sociologist and postdoc researcher with professional work experience in media, academic institutions and public sector worldwide. Dr. Afentouli holds a PhD in Sociology, a Master’s degree in International Journalism, and a Bachelor’s degree in International and European Studies and Translating/Interpreting (German-English). Dr. Afentouli has participated as a speaker, co-ordinator and organizer of educational seminars and cultural events.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 14-23-2019. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 89 fantastic films in all genres from 32 countries, including shorts, featuers, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
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