France Divided On Oct. 27, 7:00 p.m., I was present for a film review involving an aspect of the Holocaust that took place in France. The Film was comprised of individual interviews with survivors of the holocaust as well as noted historians with great knowledge of the deportation of Jews in France. The creators of this film are Doctors in their own right. The speaker this night, Dr. Angelini, collaborated with Dr. P. Barnett. Dr. Angelina has a PhD in twentieth century French Literature and is a language professor as well. This film can be taken in a historical context as well as in a context of language. As the lights dimmed and the film began, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of history. It was presented in a way that gave us the feel of the past. It was not in high-definition, but rather a kind of older film I remember watching in high school in the past. This film included very old clips of France during the deportation years, as well as prominent German officials such as Heinrich Himmler and Adolph Hitler. As well as clips from the past, the multiple interviews (which were shortened from two hours to roughly seven minutes) unmask the true story of Jews in France which had been covered up for nearly 40 years. The film gives us a first-hand account of the atrocities from people that were there. The overall theme from the “hidden children” is that the French Government and police were working hand-in-hand with the German Government to round up the Jews and deport them from France. This story included examples of French police going to individual homes and arresting Jews, and checking identification cards in towns and train stations. The children that were lucky enough to be hidden were treated very badly as well. Farmers widely beat and mistreated its Jewish workers and threatened to report them to the Germans if they did not work. This and other examples set the stage for a very anti-Semitic French population. Another example used in the film was the Catholic Church. At first, the Church did nothing to react to the anti-Jewish laws. It was not until the French Police started helping the Germans that they reacted at all. The reaction did not seem to do much to sway the French Government. The Film also depicted women as part of the resistance, interviewing a teacher that was kicked out of her position along with thousands of others who were no longer allowed to hold a civil service job. She, along with others, showed her devotion by raising money for other women who were kicked out as well. The discussion was considerably shorter than the film, but proved to be very enlightening. It was interesting to hear how she went about putting together the film. The interviewees were all found by word-of-mouth. All of the clips were very graciously given by ABC. She noted that the film was made for two reasons: To educate students about the anti-Semitic campaign in France during the war, showing a catholic and female spin; the other to educate students on the use of language. She also explained different shortcuts she took such as her husband editing the film. In all, this film was very educational for me. Before this film, I had not been formally introduced to the extent of anti-Semitism in France during the War. Although I was not so much interested in the French language and the methods of putting together the film, I was greatly appreciative of the further knowledge received from the Film. My only criticism is that I would have loved to see an interview of a collaborator and hear the other side of the story directly from a first-hand source.