For seven months, businessman Sam Cohen did all he could do to sign a deal with the devil: immediately after Hitler came to power, he initiated an agreement that would allow German Jews to immigrate to Palestine with part of their money. Surprisingly, the Nazis were good partners: they were happy to get rid of Jews, to take control of part of their money and to break the world’s economic boycott. But the American Jews, the right-wing parties in Israel, the Zionist leaders (who wanted to close the deal themselves) and especially Sam’s wife, Anita, did everything to disrupt the plan, which to this day is considered one of the most controversial events in the history of the Jewish people.
Synopsis
The history of the scandalous agreement, which for many years has been suppressed intentionally from history, between the Nazis and the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, which enabled the immigration of German Jewry with their property to Israel, alongside the rise of the Nazis to power.
About the Director
Born in London, Avida Livny is a graduate of the Tel Aviv university film school. He is an award-winning director whose films and television credits include Murder at Cinema North – Israel’s film critic forum Best Documentary of 2020 and the Israeli Academy Award winner “Shir Ahava Standarti – Arik Einstein (2017). He directed 3 episodes of the Israeli Academy Award winner Bimdinat Hayehudim, The History of Jewish Humor (2004), Looking for Moshe Guez (2011), There and Here (2014) and The Pianist from Ramallah (2021).
Livny wrote and directed the drama Max Baer’s Last Right Hook (2006), the short film Moishe Adolph (2003) and was the scriptwriter of Mother V (Best Drama in the Jerusalem Film Festival – 2001). Between 2015 to 2020 Livny was the head director and media consultant of Anu – the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.
Artist Statement
What motivated official representatives of Zionist Jewry to negotiate with the Nazis, at a time when they were already shutting down Jewish businesses and burning books? What led the Nazis to offer aid to the future Jewish state despite their public anti-Jewish stance?
How did these negotiations affect the assassination of the Zionist leader Chaim Arlozorov, an event that became one of the most significant national traumas in the history of Israel?
And what would I do if I were the one supposed to sign a deal with the devil?
With the help of animation, archives, rare documents and also documentation of the never-ending impact of the agreements on the State of Israel, I hope to be able to answer at least some of these questions.
Year
2024
Director
Avida Livny
Scriptwriter
Shai Lahav
Editor
Morris Ben Mayor and Tommy Shafrir
Research
Hagit Ben Yaakov
Animator
Sohini Tal
Funding
With Assistance from Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
Supported by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future and by the German Federal Ministry of Finance
Trailer
Stills
