A French documentary film depicting the hell of Nazi concentration camps has been shown here to a special audience, including President Itzhak Ben Zvi. The film, “Nuit et Brouillard” (Night and Fog) is narrated by Jean Cayrol, himself a veteran of the Nazi camps, and is based on documents obtained from several governments.
Introducing the new film, Pierre Gilbert, whose address was delivered in Hebrew, said that the motion picture has been sent to Israel for viewing by the people who had suffered most at the hands of the Nazi tyramy. But, he declared, it was not designed to revive hatred. Its purpose rather was to commemorate the victims and to serve as a tribute to the honor and dignity of man.
The short film, which has been hailed as a sensitive and moving document by European film critics, has been a matter of dispute in recent months. It had been with drawn from showing at the Cannes Film Festival, reportedly because the French sponsors of the festival did not wish to “offend” German participants in the film fete. But last week it was revealed that the West German Government itself had bought the rights for German showings of the film and would exhibit it for youth groups and Bonn officials. The Bonn Government was also said to have indicated that it would make the film available for theatrical release as well.
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