Claude Lanzmann (; 27 November 1925 – 5 July 2018) was a French filmmaker known for the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

documentary film '' Shoah'' (1985).

Early life

Lanzmann was born on 27 November 1925 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France, the son of Paulette () and Armand Lanzmann. His family was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and had immigrated to France from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

. He was the brother of writer

Jacques Lanzmann Jacques Lanzmann (4 May 1927 – 21 June 2006) was a French journalist, writer and lyricist. He is best known as a novelist and for his songwriting partnership with Jacques Dutronc. Early life Lanzmann spent the early part of his life in Auverg ...

. Lanzmann attended the in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label= Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attrac ...

. While his family disguised their identity and went into hiding during World War II, he joined the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

at the age of 17, along with his father and brother, and fought in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

. Lanzmann opposed the French war in Algeria and signed the 1960 antiwar petition

Manifesto of the 121 The Manifesto of the 121 (french: Manifeste des 121, full title: ''Déclaration sur le droit à l’insoumission dans la guerre d’Algérie'' or ''Declaration on the right of insubordination in the Algerian War'') was an open letter signed by 121 i ...

Career

Lanzmann was the chief editor of the journal ''

Les Temps Modernes ''Les Temps Modernes'' (''Modern Times'') is a French journal, founded by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It first issue was published in October 1945. It was named after the 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin. '' ...

'', founded by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...

and

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even ...

, and lecturer at the

European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, P ...

in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. In 2009 he published his memoirs under the title ''Le lièvre de Patagonie'' ("The Patagonian Hare").

''Shoah''

Lanzmann's most renowned work, ''Shoah'' (1985), is a nine-and-a-half-hour oral history of the Holocaust. ''Shoah'' is made without the use of any historical footage, and uses only first-person testimony from perpetrators and victims, and contemporary footage of Holocaust-related sites. Interviewees include the Polish resistance fighter Jan Karski and the American Holocaust historian

Raul Hilberg Raul Hilberg (June 2, 1926 – August 4, 2007) was a Jewish Austrian-born American political scientist and historian. He was widely considered to be the preeminent scholar on the Holocaust. Christopher R. Browning has called him the founding fath ...

. When the film was released, the director also published the complete text, including in English translation, with introductions by Lanzmann and

. Lanzmann disagreed, sometimes angrily, with attempts to understand the why of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, stating that the evil of Hitler cannot or should not be explained and that to do so is immoral and an obscenity. On 4 July 2018, his last work, ''Les Quatre Soeurs'' ('' Shoah: Four Sisters'') was released, featuring testimonials from four Holocaust survivors not included in his ''Shoah''. Lanzmann died the following day.Claude Lanzmann Dies: Director Best Known For Holocaust Documentary 'Shoah' Was 92
/ref>

Personal life

From 1952 to 1959, he lived with

. In 1963 he married French actress Judith Magre. They divorced in 1971, and he later married

Angelika Schrobsdorff Angelika Schrobsdorff (24 December 1927 – 30 July 2016) was a German writer. Life Schrobsdorff's was born the daughter of Else Kirschner (1893–1949), an assimilated Jew from Berlin, and her second husband Erich Schrobsdorff (1893–19 ...

, a German-Jewish writer. He divorced a second time, and was the father of Angélique Lanzmann and Félix Lanzmann. Claude Lanzmann died on 5 July 2018 at his Paris home, after having been ill for several days. He was 92.

Honours

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 ...

with rosette *Grand Cross of the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC ...

*2010 ''Welt''-Literaturpreis *2011 Honorary Doctorate from the University of Lucerne *2011 Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

'La promotion du 14 juillet de la Légion d'honneur', in ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

'', 14 July 201

/ref> *At the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013, Lanzmann was awarded with the Honorary Golden Bear.

Selected works

Filmography *''

Pourquoi Israël ''Pourquoi Israël'' (''Israel, Why'') is a 1973 French documentary film by Claude Lanzmann in his directorial debut. Premiered just three days after the Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, th ...

'' (1973) *'' Shoah'' (1985) *''

Tsahal The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

'' (1994) *' (1997) *'' Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m.'' (2001) *''Lights and Shadows'' (2008) *'' The Karski Report'' (2010) *'' The Last of the Unjust'' (2013) about Benjamin Murmelstein, Elder of

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...

*''Napalm'' (2017) *'' Shoah: Four Sisters'' (2017) As subject *'' Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah'' (2015) a documentary about Lanzmann, directed by Adam Benzine Books *''Shoah: An Oral History of the Holocaust : The Complete Text of the Film''. Pantheon Books, New York 1985, *''The Patagonian Hare: A Memoir'' (translated by

Frank Wynne Frank Wynne (born 1962) is an Irish literary translator and writer. Born in County Sligo in the west of Ireland, he worked as a comics editor at Fleetway and later at comic magazine '' Deadline''. He worked for a time at AOL before becoming a ...

). London: Atlantic Books, 2012, ; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 2012, *''La Tombe du divin plongeur''. Gallimard, Paris 2012