Being Jewish In France

i managed to miss being jewish in france during this years jewish film festival. fortunately i subscribe to the fslc (film society of lincoln center) e-mail newsletter which told me that this film was going to be re-released this week. starting today. so of course i went and saw it.

the film is a 100 year history of jews in france starting with the dreyfus affair and ending with modern day france. the movie is informative as well as blood curdling. its 3 hrs long with one intermission. it doesnt leave one with a warm and fuzzy feeling afterward, but if you do see it you will be glad you did.

apparantly france was the first country to grant jews full citizenship.

though jews had been in france since the middle ages, many fled europe in the early 1900's due to pogroms including the brutal kishinev pogrom. jews were very much a part of french culture . there were even french/yiddish films at one time.

during the shoah the french sold out and surrendered the jews to the nazis. many french jews were murdered. the film did not make it clear why jews returned to france after the war despite the fact the french sold them out. a few holocaust survivors were featured, but it didnt seem to be an issue. to be fair, they were children when they returned to france so the decision to stay there wasnt really up to them. by the time they grew up the world had changed.

in 2000 there were alot of anti-semitic attacks in france which at the time the french equated with kristallnacht. a school was blown up, children were harrassed and synagogues were desecrated. since 9/11 there has been an increase in anti-semitic attacks in france. there is a large arab minority and small jewish minority in france. in the more recent past - the 1980's and1990's - when there were anti-semitic incidents more than just jews were protesting. now the anti-semite is the disaffected suburban youth which makes it more mainstream. on public tv there are outright anti-semitic comedians who no one blinks an eye at. they just think its funny. jean benguigui, a current french comedian , conveyed his disbelief. his words were so moving that i wish i didnt have to rely on the subtitles. my high school french is long forgotten. sixty years after world war 2 being jewish had become so mainstream in france. now its such a shock for its jews to realize they arent as accepted as they thought.

because this was a documentary its message is stronger. viewing clips of modern france with modern looking jewish people as victims of anti-semitism makes it seem all too real. the genuine shock these people have expressed... haunting....

growing up i had always heard that france was anti-semitic so it was hard to understand how shocked the french jews are to the recent surge of anti-semitism. i suppose its always hard to admit one's homeland is truly anti-semitic.

alot of french jews have emigrated to israel due to the resurgence of anti-semitism.

being jewish in france is a most candid history i will not likely soon forget.

shalom- peace on earth.