Arnon GoldfingerThe Flat

A large family is cleaning up an apartment in Tel Aviv where a 98 old grandmother died after having lived in the same place for 70 years. This woman (she was 28 at that time) and her husband moved here in 1936 from Germany, just in time to escape the deportation and the catastrophy that followed. The 12 grandchildren all adults now, giggle when they find old books in German (Who wants to read Gothe or Heine these days???) and old clothes - the grandma evidently never threw away anything. Hundreds of garbage bags go out and then they find a pile of old German newspapers with photos of this couple in their twenties accompanying their friends on a tour of Palestine in 1933. It turns out that their close friend was a NAZI functioner who after the tour wrote 12 favorable articles about Palestine in the paper promoting an idea that German Jews could resettle in Palestine and find their happiness there - and of course to free Germany of their presence. This version was later changed to a different "solution" for the Jews.None of the family had any idea about the grandmother and grandfather's past. They did not know that the two couples kept in touch and even traveled together after the war despite of what happened with the Jewish population in Europe, the family did not even know that their great-grandmother perished in Treblinka. This remarkable story is the subject of this impressive documentary produced by one of the grandsons of this woman. But the movie is not just about the rich and unusual past, it is also about a total disinterest of the next generation about the life that their parents and grandparents lived, about their feelings which they never shared with their children, never talked about it and never showed them the papers, the letters, the photos. Not once! The woman and her husband shared some of their story with the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, but not with their children. And even when all this is discovered, the mother of the film director Arnon Goldfinger says that none of this bothers her. And the son asks a question that could be the key to why this movie is so important and actually maybe why it was made: "Does not it bother you that it does not bother you?"Very serious aspect and lesson of this movie is closing the missing link between generations.

This was a very interesting story that brought to my mind some questions. Did Middlestein , an associate of Adolf Eichman, successfully avoid the Neuremberg trials and keep up the facade by keeping on the surface a friendship with an Israeli German Jew unwitting to the role that Middlestein had in the war? Were there not any Germans during the war that were willing to oppose Hitlers final solution even Germans who had close relationships with Jewish friends and neighbors and shared the same meals? Today Germany the country and Israel are allies , and Germany has made a true effort at reconciliation and that has to be commended. Yet, for a true reconciliation between Jews and Germans to happen, the past can't be swept under the carpet because that will mean the Germans did not really learn the lessons of their past even though they might be atoning for them in a collective way. As my father was a holocaust survivor from Germany who came to the USA , he never held a true malice to the German people even though his immediate family were sacrificed. He still enjoyed German food , language , and culture as did many of my German family relatives who survived, so I can totally understand the needs of the German Israeli grandfather and grandmother to travel to Germany, a country they loved but was betrayed them. In my book " Leaving Home, Going Home,Returning Home: A Hebrew American's Sojourn in the land of Israel" I myself also talk about my own visits to Germany and my encounters with young German's who to my surprise treated me very very well. I also saw this in the heart felt greetings the Israeli family had by the German families in the movie. Yet, it is time for Germans to deal completely with their past honestly for themselves and not live in denial- so that what happened in Germany can really never ever happen again. I understand that it might be painful to dig up the not so distant past. Yet, the Holocaust was painful too and will be with the Jewish people for generations to come.

This video deals with and Israeli family's discovery that their grandparents still maintained a friendly relationship with a German Nazi leader after the war.It is a documentary about one grandson trying to find out why.The previews of this film were engrossing enough for me to buy it.Unfortunately, the previews were the best part.The answer eludes the grandson and his family, and the filmed interviews with the Nazi's daughter and his own Israeli relatives offer no greater insight, other than that people wished to not know. Goldfinger's discussions about this with his mother revealed that she had no interest in it, either.It made me wonder what all the fuss over this film winning awards was about.It seems overly long, especially when it came to cleaning out his grandmother's apartment. Those sequences could have been deleted in their entirety as they added nothing to the film.Still, some people might find it to be an interesting film, if they can get around the unnecessary "human interest" footage.I merely found it to be "OK."

i can understand not wanting to think about hitler and only living in the present,as most of this family does, but the first 30 minutes upset me so much. at least there was a member of the family who wanted to learn about the history of his family and be proud. when the entire family started throwing away everything, i got hysterical. your grandmother would turn over.... hello, havbe you ever heard of a charity shop! lots of people would love the gloves. so many different people, could have her things and she would be so happy ,she shopped and people were enjoying them. i would be happy. instead, you just kept saying no one wants this and threw trash bag after trash bag of her life and hard work away,things you cannot get anymore and things of value , i am certain. and then the books you threw away.

A must see. Observe how the subtle drama within the drama finds its way into the ending credits. The music is superb. A highly recommended film.

Awesome!! Everything just great; thanks a million!!

It surprised me. The initial premise of the film-maker seemed to be "How wonderful that a pre-war friendship between a German officer and a Jewish lawyer could have continued [despite everything The War brought] for years after the war had ended." That premise remained until after the visit to Germany, to meet the officer's daughter and her husband [who both welcomed him, and who were pleased to help him] - where it seemed a new motive began - that of assembling spurious 'evidence' to discredit the German officer in confrontation with his daughter. It left me feeling the film had been made, not to reflect the miracle of continuing friendship in almost impossible conditions, but to seek reasons for continuing to mistrust and hate everyone and everything German, because of things done by a now-extinct generation.