Written and Directed by Laurence Jarvik
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum says:
This film examines American responses to the Holocaust with particular attention to the actions (and failures to act) of American Jewish leaders. It is a detailed, informative presentation of a complex topic, with oral testimony from a wide range of Jews and non-Jews involved with the issue of Jewish rescue. Indispensable for more advanced students of the Holocaust. Graphic images.
The Purdue University Library catalog says:
WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE? (VHS format) [KINO-1982] VC1704 C G B/W SOUND 90 Min. Examines the unwillingness of Americans and Jewish Americans to rescue persecuted European Jews during World War II. Uses archival and newsreel footage with interviews of Holocaust survivors, Jewish leaders, and American senators, congressmen, and government officials to chronical the decisions made by the United States during the war concerning the plight of the Jews. Argues that American Jews did not pressure the Roosevelt administration hard enough to help the Jews of Europe. Directed by Laurence Jarvik. Uses graphic footage.
The author, Laurence Jarvik, writes:
The first American documentary about US and the Holocaust This film contains a rare filmed interview with Peter Bergson, (Hillel Kook) and Samuel Merlin, who along with Ben Hecht organized rescue efforts for European Jewry during World War II and were responsible in part for the establishment of the War Refugee Board in 1944, which saved thousands of lives and sponsored the Raoul Wallenberg mission in Hungary as well. It was the first American film on this topic. Controversial at first, it is now in the collection of the US Holocaust Museum, where it is listed as indispensible (see above).
You can read a chapter about the film in Annette Insdorf's book INDELIBLE SHADOWS: Film and the Holocaust, preface by Elie Wiesel. You can read a different sort of chapter about the film in FILM THE FRONTLINE: 1984 by David Ehrenstein. Either book can be ordered from the links at the bottom of this page.
Or, learn about Varian Fry and the work he did rescuing Hitler's victims in Marseille for the International Rescue Committee, founded by Albert Einstein in 1933.
Links to other sites on the Web
You can view the film for FREE in the collection of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC
You can also view the film on the West Coast at the The Sylvia Suckerman Memorial Video Library at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle, Washington State by clicking here or at the Jewish Community Library of Los Angeles, in Los Angeles, California by clicking here
Internet Movie Database (IMDB) listing for WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE?
Arts and Letters Daily
The Super Sixers, the actual Liberators of Buchenwald
A chapter from the autobiography of Col. Jim Moncrief, senior surviving officer of The Super Sixers, the actual Liberators of Buchenwald
Click here to order a copy of Indelible Shadows by Annette Insdorf, with a preface by Elie Wiesel
Click here to order a copy of Film The Frontline: 1984 by David Ehrenstein
Buy a copy of WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE? Today by clicking here
An article about Stephen Spielberg's production The Last Days.
About the Filmmaker
Laurence A. Jarvik wrote Masterpiece Theatre and the Politics of Quality (Scarecrow Press, 1999) and PBS: Behind the Screen (Prima, 1997). He edited Public Broadcasting and the Public Trust
(Second Thoughts Books, 1995) and The National Endowments: A Critical Symposium (Second Thoughts Books, 1995). He
received his Ph.D. and Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television from UCLA's School of Film and TV and taught at UCLA
and California State University, Los Angeles. He has testified before Congress about PBS and cultural policy, and appeared on C-Span's Washington Journal,
CNN Crossfire, ABC Nightline, and the CBS Evening News, among other programs. His articles have appeared in scholarly
and popular publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, American Film,
Montage, and American Cinematographer. WHO SHALL LIVE
AND WHO SHALL DIE (distributed by Kino International) was broadcast on PBS stations and shown in international
festivals.
Contact Laurence A. Jarvik
An old interview with Amazon.com about the film:
Amazon.com talks to Laurence Jarvik
Amazon.com: How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
L.J.: The film was made because I realized a lot of the people involved were getting older and no one had recorded their stories. A college professor, James Kurth, helped pay for the project out of his personal funds, and became co producer.
Amazon.com: What authors do you like to read? What book or books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?
L.J.: Now I read mostly comic novels. But the film was influenced by Arthur Morse's WHILE SIX MILLION DIED and David Wyman's PAPER WALLS.
Amazon.com: Could you describe the mundane details of writing: How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you write a draft on paper or at a keyboard (typewriter or computer)? Do you have a favorite location or time of day (or night) for writing? What do you do to avoid--or seek!--distractions?
L.J.: This project was done right after graduation from college, so was a form of on the job training in film and television production. I learned that independent filmmaking is a myth!
Amazon.com: Do you meet your readers at book signings, conventions, or similar events? Do you interact with your readers electronically through e-mail or other online forums?
L.J.: After the film came out I met viewers at some events at film festivals and Jewish community centers and academic conferences. Lately it has been by mail.
Amazon.com: When and how did you get started on the Net? Do you read any newsgroups such as rec.arts.books and rec.arts.sf.written, mailing lists, or other on-line forums? Do you use the Net for research--or is it just another time sink? Are you able to communicate with other writers or people you work with over the Net?
L.J.: I started on the internet about a year ago and love it.
(Interview from 1996, (c)copyright by Amazon.com)
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