The Last of the Unjust

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Claude Lanzmann, director of Shoah, uncovers and presents the story of Benjamin Murmelstein, the last president of the Theresienstadt Jewish Council. Theresienstadt, as a place, holds the tragic distinction of being a key part of the propaganda machine created by Adolf Eichmann, because it was dubbed the “model ghetto,” when, in actuality, it was the last stop before the gas chamber. Eichmann had the world and the Jewish people convinced otherwise though, in large part due to Murmelstein, who from 1938 through the end of the war found himself in daily negotiations with Eichmann for the souls of millions of Jews. And yet, when Eichmann finally faced criminal proceedings for his role in the Holocaust, Murmelstein was not called to testify. Lanzmann’s documentary explores this hidden history of the Holocaust and attempts to expose the details surrounding the conception of the “Final Solution.” Opens Feb. 21 at Esquire Theatre. (PG-13) Not screened in time for review