#kristallnacht80 The first film about the Holocaust was directed by my great-uncle Adolf Minkin. "Professor Mamlock" (1938) ran in the USA where it opened two days before the #Kristallnacht. Its history is remarkable. 
Made in Russia, "Professor Mamlock" ran with huge success in the USSR until it was banned for a period between August 1939 and through June 23, 1941 because Stalin signed a pact with Hitler. Molotov--Ribbentrop pact. (Molotov, Ribbentrop, Hitler 👇)
Read about Molotov--Ribbentrop pact, Molotov's grandson serving Putin now, and flipping the narratives of Stalin--Hitler pact by Putin here: medium.com/@ZarinaZabrisk…
On June 22, 1941, Hitler attacked the USSR. The ban was lifted and it was re-introduced to cinemas already on June 23. It was temporarily banned again in July, this time because the portrayal of the Germans was deemed too sympathetic...
Many Holocaust survivors, whose testimonies are stored in the Steven Spielberg Foundation, mentioned that the film impressed upon them "the murderous nature of Nazi anti-Semitism." The film may have helped some Soviet Jews to survive. (Not my ancestors)
More about the film here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor…
It is uncanny to see the repeat of the events 80 yeas later. Just last week I was writing about a neo-Nazi speaking in a former synagogue on the eve of this anniversary... History teaches us nothing.
