"Who
saved a life saved all humanity" so prays the Talmud. In 1944, the
Spanish diplomat Angel Sanz Briz, saved the lives of 5,200 people, men,
women, children, Jews in Hungary under Nazi control. To avoid their sure
slaughter, he provided them with Spanish passports behind Franco's
back, risking his own skin day after day evading the ferocious SS. He
had saved more lives than Schindler of the 'List' fame, and nobody had
dedicated him a film or a mention.
Till now. A television documentary: 'Sanz Briz, the Spanish Schindler' was shown on the Spanish channel Antena 3, work of the journalist Fernando Gonzalez Gonzo, who had redeemed the life work of Sanz Briz, the brave diplomat through the testimonials of his widow and his sons, as well as that of several Jewish survivors and their descendants, thanks to his heroic and selfless actions. The fact that a private TV channel had dedicated part of their valuable time and space to emit this documentary, bypassing the commercial interest to honour a honourable man and good journalism is in itself also an honourable act. It's rare these days and deserves great applause. As said in the documentary a ninety-odd year old man, a violinist in Auschwitz, now plays his violin in Jerusalem: "We are alive so that the conscience of humanity doesn't die". Sanz Briz died in 1980 without ever boasted, not even mention his humanitarian undertaking. |
- Current Mood:
Accomplished
No comments:
Post a Comment