While the Hollywood Jewish community has been looking to Schindler’s List director Steven Spielberg, perhaps the most influential and respected Jew in the movie industry, to comment publicly about the massacre of thousands of Jews and the kidnapping of hundreds by Hamas that started the current war, an organization of Holocaust survivors has decided it can no longer wait patiently.
On November 2, nearly a month after the horrific slaughter of October 7, the Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation-USA published an open letter by its president, 94-year-old David Schaecter, calling on Spielberg to make a statement condemning the massacre.
Schaecter begins the letter by expressing his admiration for Spielberg, especially for documenting the horrors of the Holocaust in Schindler’s List. He went on to describe how most of his family members were murdered in the Holocaust and how he survived four years in Nazi camps Auschwitz and Buchenwald, where he watched his brother die.
Expressing his frustration, Schaecter wrote: “That is why I, along with countless other survivors, are so heartbroken that, since Oct. 7, 2023, you have not spoken out and publicly taken a stand against terrorism, against Hamas and the millions who celebrate the shedding of Jewish blood – and want more.
“With all my heart, I urge you to speak out for the children, women, and men kidnapped and held hostage, and in support of Israel and Israel’s right to defend herself.”
Referring to the USC Shoah Foundation that Spielberg founded, which collects the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, he wrote: “Wasn’t the purpose of recording 50,000 testimonies of our fellow survivors to make sure the world would never be able to deny, and must never forget, the Nazis’ systematic murder of 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children? On Oct. 7, Hamas committed the worst atrocities against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Schaecter praised celebrities such as Gal Gadot and Jerry Seinfeld, who did speak out to condemn the massacre, adding: “Mr. Spielberg, Schindler’s List was about one man having the moral courage to risk his life to save others. We are not asking you to risk your life. We are asking you to use your voice... As the premier Jewish filmmaker in the world, your silence now is a comfort for our enemies... We do not need another film in three years about the horrors of October 7th. Instead, we need you and others to speak out NOW, when it truly matters.”
He signed off with the words, “With great sadness.”
Steven Spielberg's outspoken Jewish identity
Spielberg has spoken out about his Jewish identity in recent years, saying that the antisemitism he experienced while growing up was a key part of his semi-autobiographical 2022 movie, The Fabelmans, which was nominated for seven Oscars. When he was awarded the Honorary Gold Bear at the 2022 Berlinale, the Berlin International Film Festival, he said, “This honor has particular meaning for me because I’m a Jewish director. I’d like to believe that this is a small moment in a much larger, ongoing effort of healing the broken places of history – what Jews call Tikkun Olam, the repairing and restoring of the world... I established The Shoah Foundation because I’m convinced that what historian Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi wrote is true: The opposite of justice is forgetting. Reconciliation is possible only when we remember what’s happened.”
A member of the Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation confirmed that the letter was sent to a representative of Spielberg, who works for the director’s company. Spielberg’s representative confirmed that the director had read the letter. About a week later, the representative stated that no response would be forthcoming.
The Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation was incorporated in 2001 and joined by 40 Holocaust survivor organizations throughout the US, at the time representing some 20,000 survivors. Over the years, many have passed away, but the group continues to represent thousands of them, along with many organizations that include second- and third-generation survivors.
While many Hollywood celebrities including Barbra Streisand and Natalie Portman, among others, have raised their voices about the massacre, Jews in Hollywood have privately expressed surprise and sadness that Spielberg, who has spoken out on other issues, has stayed silent on this issue. Hollywood insiders whom I interviewed for this article, who preferred not to give their names, all told me that notwithstanding the eloquence of Schaecter’s letter, it will not inspire Spielberg to break his silence. “If he were going to comment, he would have said something right away,” one said.
Asked whether Spielberg is afraid of offending those in Hollywood who are focused only on Israel’s response to the attack without even mentioning the attack itself, one of them said, “That, and he doesn’t want to be seen as supporting the Israeli government in any way... Could he have made a statement that would have condemned the massacre and made it clear that he is very critical of Bibi [Netanyahu] and his policies? Sure. But he didn’t. And he won’t.”
The full text of the letter can be seen at http://www.hsf-usa.org/open-letter-to-steven-spielberg/