The 81st Blow: Difference between revisions

The 81st Blow
The 81st Blow
Directed by	David Bergman ; Jacques "Jacquo" Ehrlich; Haim Gouri
Written by	Haim Gouri
Produced by	David Bergman; Jacques Ehrlich; Haim Gouri; Beit Lohamei HaGhettaot
Edited by	Jacques Ehrlich
Production; company	Ghetto Fighters' House
Release date	1974;
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Israel
Languages	Yiddish; Hebrew

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The 81st Blow (Hebrew: המכה ה-81 and also known as The Eighty-First Blow) is a 1974 Israeli documentary film directed by Haim Gouri.

The 81st Blow is the first part of the Holocaust trilogy by Haim Gouri, Jacques Ehrlich, and David Bergman.

The film chronicles Adolf Hitler and the Nazis' rise to power, the persecution and destruction of Jews during the Holocaust, and the lasting effects on survivors.

It uses archival footage to depict these events, with survivor testimonies heard in the soundtrack but their faces not shown on screen.

The title "The 81st Blow" comes from the testimony of Michael (Miki) Goldman, a Holocaust survivor and former police officer who served as an assistant to Gideon Hausner, Israel's Attorney General and the prosecutor in the Eichmann trial.

During the trial, Dr. Buzminski, a dentist from the Pszemysl ghetto, testified about a Jewish boy who received 80 lashes from a Nazi officer. It was later revealed that this boy was Goldman himself. Goldman later referred to the "81st blow" as the societal rejection and indifference he felt from the Israeli public after the war, who ignored or turned away from Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1975, making it a significant contribution to Holocaust cinema.

The 81st Blow is the first film in the Israeli Holocaust Trilogy by Bergman, Ehrlich and Gouri.^[1] It was followed by The Last Sea (1984) and Flames in the Ashes (1985).

Plot

The plot of *The 81st Blow* centers on the experiences of Holocaust survivors and the atrocities committed under Nazi rule, depicted through a combination of survivor testimonies, archival footage, and historical context.

The film uses the 1961 Adolf Eichmann trial as a key narrative device, presenting survivors’ accounts of their suffering during the Holocaust.

The "81st blow" refers to the emotional pain endured by survivors who, after enduring the horrors of the Holocaust, were met with disbelief and denial by those around them post-war.

This sense of alienation and the struggle to validate their trauma becomes a central theme, highlighting the long-lasting effects of the Holocaust on survivors' psyches and lives.

The documentary does not follow a linear story but instead weaves together personal stories and broader historical events to provide a powerful commentary on memory, justice, and the weight of surviving an unimaginable past.

Additional details

The film was produced by Beit Lohamei HaGhettaot (Ghetto Fighters' House), a museum dedicated to Holocaust remembrance. This collaboration underscored its aim of preserving history and educating future generations. The trilogy as a whole examines survival, resilience, and the scars left by the Holocaust on individuals and society

References

^ Loshitzky, Yosefa; Identity politics on the Israeli screen. 2001: University of Texas Press.

External links

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[1] Loshitzky, Yosefa; Identity politics on the Israeli screen. 2001: University of Texas Press.

[1]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 '''''The 81st Blow''''' ({{langx|he|המכה ה-81}} and also known as '''''The Eighty-First Blow''''') is a 1974 Israeli [[documentary film]] directed by [[Haim Gouri]].
+'''The 81st Blow''' is the first part of the Holocaust trilogy by Haim Gouri, Jacques Ehrlich, and David Bergman.
-The film covers the oppression of Jews under the [[Nazism and the Wehrmacht|Nazis]] and features rare historical footage of [[Concentration camp|concentration camps]]. It was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]].<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/125264/The-81st-Blow/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018142227/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/125264/The-81st-Blow/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 October 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2012 |title=NY Times: The 81st Blow |access-date=15 November 2008}}</ref><ref name="Oscars1975">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975 |title=The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners |access-date=10 June 2019|work=oscars.org}}</ref>
+The film chronicles Adolf Hitler and the Nazis' rise to power, the persecution and destruction of Jews during the Holocaust, and the lasting effects on survivors.
-The title is derived from a comment by a witness at [[Adolf Eichmann]]'s trial. According to his testimony, he was whipped 80 times by the Nazis, but was not believed by Israelis after the war; this final doubt of his own people was the "81st blow".
+It uses archival footage to depict these events, with survivor testimonies heard in the soundtrack but their faces not shown on screen.
+The title "The 81st Blow" comes from the testimony of Michael (Miki) Goldman, a Holocaust survivor and former police officer who served as an assistant to Gideon Hausner, Israel's Attorney General and the prosecutor in the Eichmann trial.
+During the trial, Dr. Buzminski, a dentist from the Pszemysl ghetto, testified about a Jewish boy who received 80 lashes from a Nazi officer. It was later revealed that this boy was Goldman himself. Goldman later referred to the "81st blow" as the societal rejection and indifference he felt from the Israeli public after the war, who ignored or turned away from Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel.
+The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1975, making it a significant contribution to Holocaust cinema.
 ''The 81st Blow'' is the first film in the Israeli Holocaust Trilogy by [[Ingmar Bergman|Bergman]], [[Jacques "Jacquo" Ehrlich|Ehrlich]] and [[Haim Gouri|Gouri]].<ref>Loshitzky, Yosefa; ''Identity politics on the Israeli screen''. 2001: University of Texas Press.</ref> It was followed by [[The Last Sea (1984)|''The Last Sea'' (1984)]] and [[Flames in the Ashes (1985)|''Flames in the Ashes'' (1985)]].