My People is a feature documentary by Anna Rezan that tells the story of the Jews of Greece during the Nazi Occupation of Greece and the role that the Christian clergy and the Greek Resistance played during WWII. It will premiere at the Greek Film Festival this Saturday at Palace Cinema Como.
I met Anna recently in Athens – the actress and director recently honoured in Washington, DC, for her contribution to history, arts, and culture. Anna and her film have had an indelible impact on me for many reasons, not least the horror unleashed by the Nazis on the Jewish people, specifically in Greece.
“Even though the Holocaust survivors experienced terrible trauma and awful circumstances, the film aims to set an example that transforms that energy exhibited by the survivors into a feeling of empowerment everyone should have, including the audience,” Anna said.
Anna Rezan has carved out a substantial career as actor and as musical artist, and has in numerous Greek and European films and television such as, Bloody Soil, The Red Room, Love at First Sight and Show Bitch.
My People was nominated for the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival Orpheus Awards and Anna was the recipient of a distinction in Washington. Patrick McGavin from the La Times called it, “groundbreaking and deserving work.Unexpected…”
“For me, the invitation was a great surprise and honour” Anna said.
Anna was born in Athens to Fotis Rezan Kritseli and Eva Matilda Kalamara. Her father, who is of Cretan and Peloponnesian descent, is a federal judge who had aspirations to be a director; her mother, a Greek-Jewish attorney of Spanish and Polish descent, studied at Karolos Koun’s School of Dramatic Arts before going to law school.
The tragedy is that most Sephardic Jews of Thessaloniki perished in the Nazi death camps, and we, as Hellenes, should not forget that as Greeks. Sadly, the Greek Resistance had not yet reached Thessaloniki. Many Greek Jews, such as the Romaniotes and those outside Thessaloniki, were hidden or issued baptismal papers by the Clergy to avoid capture. Many other Greek Jews fought in the Greek Resistance against the Nazis, something that did not often occur in other resistance movements, where Jews fought separately from non-Jews.
Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens and Greece called on his priests to do everything they could to help the Jews and hide those for whom it was impossible to forge baptismal certificates. The Gestapo often threatened him, and the Greek collaborationist government warned him, but to no avail.
1943, for protecting the Athenian Jewish community, Damaskinos was threatened by SS General Jurgen Stroop to be shot; the Primate replied, ” Greek hierarchs are not shot. They are hanged. Please respect this tradition.”
In his sermons, the Archbishop continued to denounce the invaders harshly, wrote public letters, and issued baptismal certificates. For saving Greek Jews during the Holocaust, Yad Vashem named him among the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ distinction. That made me swell with pride.
My People is not only about the post-war resilience of her Holocaust survivor subjects, and how church leaders helped thousands of Jews avoid deportation, and into the Greek resistance, but a very personal reflection on her her grandfather and grandmother who joined the partisans.
There is a line in the documentary which resonates with me: ‘My history is your history, which for Anna is “about my grandparents and great-grandparents.”
“This is a message that they still learned to enjoy life after these terrible circumstances and transformed this experience into something powerful. It is a universal message.”
The multi-awarded documentary was co-produced by Anna Rezan Zafeiris Haitidis, Pantelis Kodogiannis, and Academy Award winners Mitchell Block and Kim Magnusson.
“It is a cinematic hymn to love and courage that intends to educate and inspire people of all ages to learn from history…live more, and love more,” Anna adds.
As the president of the Greek Community of Melbourne, I am also proud that such an important documentary is presented in association with the Jewish Museum of Australia on the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust.
See the trailer below.