The Phantom Holocaust : : Soviet Cinema and Jewish Catastrophe / / Olga Gershenson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Rutgers University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Gershenson, Olga,
• Place / Publishing House: New Brunswick, NJ : : Rutgers University Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Jewish Cultures of the World
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (290 p.) :; 20 illustrations

Even people familiar with cinema believe there is no such thing as a Soviet Holocaust film. The Phantom Holocaust tells a different story. The Soviets were actually among the first to portray these events on screens. In 1938, several films exposed Nazi anti-Semitism, and a 1945 movie depicted the mass execution of Jews in Babi Yar. Other significant pictures followed in the 1960s. But the more directly filmmakers engaged with the Holocaust, the more likely their work was to be banned by state censors. Some films were never made while others came out in such limited release that the Holocaust remained a phantom on Soviet screens. Focusing on work by both celebrated and unknown Soviet directors and screenwriters, Olga Gershenson has written the first book about all Soviet narrative films dealing with the Holocaust from 1938 to 1991. In addition to studying the completed films, Gershenson analyzes the projects that were banned at various stages of production. The book draws on archival research and in-depth interviews to tell the sometimes tragic and sometimes triumphant stories of filmmakers who found authentic ways to represent the Holocaust in the face of official silencing. By uncovering little known works, Gershenson makes a significant contribution to the international Holocaust filmography.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Screening the Holocaust in the Soviet Union: Jews without the Holocaust and the Holocaust without the Jews -- 2. Soviet Antifascist Films of the 1930s: The Earliest Images of Nazi Anti-Semitism and Concentration Camps on World Screens -- 3. The First Phantom: I Will Live! (1942) -- 4. How a Soviet Novel Turned into a Jewish Film: The First Depiction of the Holocaust on Soviet Screens, The Unvanquished (1945) -- 5. The Holocaust on the Thawing Screens: From The Fate of a Man (1959) to Ordinary Fascism (1965) -- 6. The Holocaust at the Lithuanian Film Studio: Gott mit Uns (1961) -- 7. The Holocaust without the Jews: Steps in the Night (1962) and Other Films -- 8. Kalik versus Goskino: Goodbye, Boys! (1964/1966) -- 9. Stalemate (1965) between the Filmmaker and the Censors -- 10. Kalik's Last Phantom: King Matt and the Old Doctor (1966) -- 11. The Film That Cost a Career: Eastern Corridor (1966) -- 12. Muslims Instead of Musslmans: Sons of the Fatherland (1968) -- 13. Commissar (1967/1988): The End of the Thaw -- 14. An Alternative Track: Jewish Soldiers Fighting on Soviet Screens -- 15. The Last Phantom-the First Film: Our Father (1966/1990) -- 16. Perestroika and Beyond: Old Wine in New Bottles? -- 17. Conclusions -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Notes -- Index -- About the Author