The Globus Group, a film production and distribution company best known for its blood-and-guts action flicks, took a more serious turn last week when it began inviting local teen-agers to watch Steven Spielberg’s film "Schindler’s List" in many of its 30 movie theaters.
Under a new project co-sponsored by Globus Group and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, thousands of Israeli students will have the opportunity to see the acclaimed film as part of their studies.
Globus had no connection to the film, which was produced by Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures.
According to the arrangement, which is being finalized with the Ministry of Education, Globus will open its theaters to high-school students and teachers several mornings a week.
Yad Vashem, which already runs an extensive Holocaust education program in cooperation with the school system, is preparing materials about the film and the events that inspired it.
Released here at the beginning of March, "Schindler’s List" recounts the story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved the lives of 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust.
AN EXCELLENT TEACHING TOOL
In 1973, Yad Vashem recognized Schindler as a Rightcous Gentile. He is buried in Jerusalem, in the Christian cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
Though educators and Holocaust experts here view "Schindler’s List" as an excellent teaching tool, they stress that it is just one of many in the arsenal of Holocaust education.
On average, Israeli high-school students spend several weeks studying the Holocaust. The curriculum includes the study of Holocaust films and literature, as well as field trips and discussions with Holocaust survivors.
In addition, about 1,000 Israeli teens travel to Poland to participate in the March of the Living, a semi-annual gathering in which Jewish youths from around the world visit concentration camps and towns and villages once inhabited by Jews.
Despite the high quality of Holocaust education in Israeli schools, "there is always more that can be learned," said Yad Vashem spokeswoman Billie Laniado.
"Even among Israelis, there are young people who are not close to the subject," she said. "They are not survivors; they are not even children of survivors.
"A film like this, which offers a very authentic view of the Holocaust, has a lot of educational value," Laniado said.
Laniado noted that "the subject of the Righteous Among the Nations teaches an important lesson.
True, she said, "Schindler’s List" is a movie, "and it provides an optimistic view at times, but this makes the film easier to watch."
It is this optimism, she said, "that will ultimately draw people to the theater. What’s the good of a Holocaust film if people can’t bring themselves to see it?"
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