Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
Encyclopedia
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel is a 1965 documentary film
directed by Marshall Flaum
. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
in 1965 and won the United Nations Award in 1961 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
. Flaum also produced and wrote the documentary.
With narration by Richard Basehart
and an original score by Israeli composer Marc Lavry
, Let My People Go depicts the story of the efforts to create a homeland for the Jewish people, interweaving archival footage of such individuals and events reaching back to Theodor Herzl
in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress
in Basel
, Switzerland
. The film shows World Zionist Organization
president Chaim Weizmann
meeting with Arthur Balfour
, who authored the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which stated that "His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". The documentary showed Jewish refugees on ships barred from entry into the Mandate Palestine
following the White Paper of 1939
that restricted Jewish immigration and included film taken during The Holocaust that had not previously been seen depicting Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto
and a young women carrying her unmoving child, as well as the "illegals", displaced person
s who had attempted to evade the British blockade after World War II
who were detained in British DP camps
in Cyprus
. After showing people listening to a shortwave broadcast of the proceedings in 1947 at the United Nations
approving the partition plan that led to the creation of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, the film ends with men and women planting trees in memory of the six million victims of The Holocaust.
The film was broadcast in the United States in April 1965 on a nationwide network of independent stations, with the sponsorship of the Xerox Corporation
.
as being "one of those rare programs which remind us of the heights to which television can soar when it is at its best.".
Television critic Jack Gould
of The New York Times
called the film "A documentary of remorseless realism... that seared the viewer's consciousness with the tireless nobility and animal barbarity of the human race".
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Marshall Flaum
Marshall Flaum
Marshall Allen Flaum was an American Emmy Award-winning documentary and television director, producer and screenwriter. In addition to his five Emmy Awards, Flaum earned two Academy Award nominations for his work on the documentary films The Yanks Are Coming in 1963 and Let My People Go: The Story...
. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
in 1965 and won the United Nations Award in 1961 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
. Flaum also produced and wrote the documentary.
With narration by Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
and an original score by Israeli composer Marc Lavry
Marc Lavry
Marc Lavry was an Israeli composer and conductor.Marc Lavry was a most prolific composer who belonged to an exclusive group of artists who formulated what is known today as Israeli music....
, Let My People Go depicts the story of the efforts to create a homeland for the Jewish people, interweaving archival footage of such individuals and events reaching back to Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress
First Zionist Congress
The First Zionist Congress was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization held in Basel , Switzerland, from August 29 to August 31, 1897. It was convened and chaired by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement...
in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The film shows World Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
president Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
meeting with Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
, who authored the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which stated that "His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". The documentary showed Jewish refugees on ships barred from entry into the Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
following the White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
that restricted Jewish immigration and included film taken during The Holocaust that had not previously been seen depicting Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
and a young women carrying her unmoving child, as well as the "illegals", displaced person
Displaced person
A displaced person is a person who has been forced to leave his or her native place, a phenomenon known as forced migration.- Origin of term :...
s who had attempted to evade the British blockade after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
who were detained in British DP camps
Displaced persons camp
A displaced persons camp or DP camp is a temporary facility for displaced persons coerced into forced migration. The term is mainly used for camps established after World War II in West Germany and in Austria, as well as in the United Kingdom, primarily for refugees from Eastern Europe and for the...
in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. After showing people listening to a shortwave broadcast of the proceedings in 1947 at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
approving the partition plan that led to the creation of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, the film ends with men and women planting trees in memory of the six million victims of The Holocaust.
The film was broadcast in the United States in April 1965 on a nationwide network of independent stations, with the sponsorship of the Xerox Corporation
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
.
Critical reception
Let My People Go was described by critic Donald Kirkley of The Baltimore SunThe Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
as being "one of those rare programs which remind us of the heights to which television can soar when it is at its best.".
Television critic Jack Gould
Jack Gould
Jack Gould was an American journalist and critic, who wrote influential commentary about television....
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film "A documentary of remorseless realism... that seared the viewer's consciousness with the tireless nobility and animal barbarity of the human race".