The Legacy of Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann

Gertrude Schneider (who later wrote a book about her experiences during World War II) and her family were deported from Vienna to Riga, Latvia in February, 1942. In this clip, Schneider, her sister, and her mother discuss the Germans' attempts to prohibit pregnancy in the ghetto and the consequences for women who became pregnant. They laugh at the idea that the Germans issued official orders forbidding sex in the ghetto, and Gertrude's sister speculates that disobeying this prohibition against sex was a form of spiritual resistance. Later in the interview (available in Collections Search) Claude Lanzmann encourages the three women to sing songs from the ghetto, one of many examples of Lanzmann's interest in recording songs written and sung by Jews during this period. November, 1978, New York, NY. RG-60.5015.

Roswell McClelland, serving as a representative of the American Friends Service Committee, describes to Lanzmann his attempts to ameliorate the situation of the French Jews at a meeting with Vichy French official Pierre Laval in 1942. He recalls that Laval regarded the foreign Jews as a particularly negative influence, and supported their relocation to an "ethnic reservation" in Poland. Laval also denied that Jews were being murdered in Poland. Roswell McClelland continued his efforts to aid Jews in Europe and later became the US Representative to the War Refugee Board in Switzerland. November, 1978, Chevy Chase, MD. RG-60.5047.

Lanzmann was relentless in his pursuit of interviews with perpetrators. In some cases he used a camera hidden on his body, or adopted a fake name and framed his project as either neutral or even sympathetic toward the Nazi point of view. This compilation of clips shows Lanzmann and his interpreter, Corinna Coulmas, ringing the doorbell at the home of Gustav Laabs, an SS commander and gas van operator who murdered between 100,000 and 200,00 Jews at Chelmno, for which he served 13 years in prison. Getting no answer at Laabs's home, Lanzmann talks to some of his neighbors. One couple with whom he speaks are, throughout the conversation, irate at being filmed without permission. In response to Lanzmann's questions, the couple say they know Mr. Laabs and that he is a very nice neighbor. Lanzmann asks if they know about his past, whether they know what a gas van is, and if they are aware that their nice neighbor murdered 200,000 Jews by gassing them. The man seems taken aback and can only answer that they are the next generation, implying their innocence. The next neighbor Lanzmann speaks with denies knowing anything about Laabs,including his age or career. Lanzmann then states bluntly that Laabs killed hundreds of thousands of Jews in gas vans at Chelmno. The man claims that his only knowledge of these events is from the TV series Holocaust. This man, too, does not like the presence of the camera. Lanzmann asks him what he thinks in general about the activities of the Holocaust. The man says perpetrators should be judged but keeps a very distant stance throughout. Corinna and Lanzmann walk toward their van as if followed (out of frame) by one of the neighbors who is insisting that they leave. In these scenes the viewer can sense both the determination of Lanzmann to compel his subjects to reveal as much as he can, and the personal danger that might result from his aggressive tactics. 1980, Germany. RG-60.5018.

Lanzmann sits in a hotel room reading some papers, preparing for a secretly taped interview with Karl Kretschmer, a senior official with Einsatzgruppe 4a (Babi Yar). Lanzmann takes off his jacket and shirt and sound engineer, Bernard Aubouy, fits him with the hidden camera. The camera is held in place on Lanzmann's left side by a strap around his chest. Aubouy helps him with his shirt and tie, and they speak in French as Lanzmann continues to dress. Lanzmann reads from the French translation of Kretchmer's letter to his family in September 1942 about Babi Yar. Later in the hidden camera interview, Kretschmer is reluctant to talk. 1980, Germany. RG-60.5025.