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Classroom
topics:
The Assisi Underground by
Alexander Ramati
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| Silence
about the Nazi's annihilation of the Jews during WWII. Padre Rufino questions the
Pope's public silence, and yet he understands that all the bishops
in the book seemed to have received a sub
rosa
order to save the Jews. |
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§
What
argument does Padre Rufino raise in favor of the Pope's taking a
public stand against the Nazi movement to exterminate the Jews?
[Among others, one
in every three German soldiers was Catholic.]
§
How
did the bishops interpret the Pope's orders? [They understood that
the Pope could not issue an express order, but they felt
that he wanted them to provide sanctuary to the Jews. They knew that
he was also the Bishop of Rome where more than one hundred convents
and fifty churches were hiding 4,000 Jews, that is, half the Jews in
Rome. The bishops were following his example.]
§
What
arguments favor the sub rosa
method? [The Pope, as head of the Vatican state, could have
issued declarations, but they would have been meaningless to the
Nazis who may have then occupied the Vatican.
The Third Reich was suspicious of the Catholic clergy and could have
completely shut down all operations, greatly limiting the Church's
ability to help Jews.]
§
It
is strongly suggested that Colonel Müller was in his heart aware
that Padre Rufino was hiding Jews, and yet he still what he could to
cooperate with the priest. When Colonel Müller returned with his
family to visit
Assisi
ten years after the war, Padre Rufino avoided asking him directly
whether he knew the truth or if he had managed to deceive him. After
Colonel Müller's death, the author, Alexander Ramati, asked Colonel
Müller's son if his father had ever revealed that he was aware that
hundreds of Jews were being hidden in
Assisi. The son replied that his father suspected it, and "if he was
deceived, it is because he wanted to be deceived." What did the
son mean? Why didn't Colonel Müller simply take a public stand
against the Nazi treatment of the Jews? [He would have been executed
as a traitor.] Why was Padre Rufino sympathetic to Colonel's Müller's
circumstances? [He saw the picture of the Colonel's family and knew
that he had to leave his family and medical practice in Germany
to serve in the German military, that military service was not his
choice.] How did Colonel Müller communicate that his first
allegiance was to God rather than to his country? [He overtly
practiced his religion--Mass attendance, prayers, confession,
attempt to protect Catholic shrines in Assisi
from war damage and devastation--and when he could, he made sure
that Padre Rufino had the assistance he needed.] What did Padre
Rufino say about Colonel Müller's confession? [He could not reveal
what was said in confession, but he could say that the Colonel had
not committed a crime.] What change took place in the relationship
between Padre Rufino and Colonel Müller? [Colonel Müller stopped
meeting with the priest, whom he said had abused his trust. He
stopped going to Mass. He also stopped taking his strolls in the
city.] What reason for this change in behavior was suggested in the
book? [Colonel Müller's generosity to the priests had put him in
jeopardy. One of the priests suspected that Colonel Müller was
being watched and spied upon just as the Catholic leaders were. His
subordinate, SS Captain von den Velde, vigorously sought evidence of
Padre Rufino's underground activities.] What did Captain von den
Velde say about the Catholics? [He said that the Catholic clergy was the
enemy.] Why didn't Captain von den Velde execute Padre Rufino
immediately? [He wanted him to confess and provide evidence of the
underground program. Uncovering this major operation would undermine
his superior officer, Colonel Müller, and possibly expose him as a
traitor; this would advance Captain von den Velde's military
career.]
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| The
Jews
Padre Rufino had grown up in area around Assisi. He had had no contact with
Jews until his bishop put Jews under his protection.
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§
How
did Padre Rufino react when he learned that the Jews hidden at the
convent were celebrating Rosh Hashana? [He got the sisters to
provide wine and flowers and told them to make the meal special that
evening because they were celebrating Jewish New Year.]
§
When
he told one of the refugees that he knew nothing about the Jewish
religion, what book did the refugee give him saying "This is
all you need to know about our religion?" [The Old Testament
AKA The Hebrew Scriptures] What other book was given to Padre Rufino?
[A book about the history of the Jews in Italy] How did Padre Rufino use the knowledge he gained from this book to
convince his irreverent printer friend to make false documents for
the Jews? [He took the printer on a walking tour of Assisi pointing
out various streets named after the printer's uncle and monuments
related to the uncle's heroic deeds, and then he explained how
various Jews had helped the cause his uncle was devoted to. These
Jews had risked their lives for democratic principles in Italy. Padre Rufino then asked the printer to help the Jews hiding in Assisi.]
§
What
did Padre Rufino do to help the Jews keep Kosher? [He got them oil
so that they would not have to eat food cooked with lard.]
§
Why
did the Jews need false identity cards? [Identity cards were
required of all people. These cards included names, birthdates and
birthplaces, names of parents, and marital status. The names could
not be Jewish-sounding names.]
§
What
characteristics might give the Jews away? [Some came from other
countries; they spoke Italian with an accent. Some had Middle
Eastern features; they did not look Italian.]
§
How
does Padre Rufino refer to the Jews? [He calls them his brothers
just as he calls his members of his religious community his
brothers.]
§
Two
schools were in operation in the underground. What did they teach?
[One school was for the Jewish children so that they would not fall
behind in their academic lessons; after the war, all the children
received school certificates in their real names. The other school
was to teach the prayers and chants to the Jews who were disguised
as monks.]
§
What
did Padre Rufino do about Mrs Weiss' burial? [He explained that for
the security of all her public burial had to be Catholic with a
cross at the grave but that privately the Jews could gather and say
their own prayers. After the war, Mrs Weiss' real name and a Star of
David were placed on her grave, the only Jewish grave in the
Catholic cemetery.]
§
How
did the Jews honor Padre Rufino? [In 1955, the Jewish Community of
Italy, on the tenth anniversary of the ending of the war, presented
him and others--among them the Bishop, priests, the printer's son,
and the Mother Superior--with gold medals. The State of Israel
presented him with the medal and diploma of the Righteous Gentile,
the highest honor that they can award to a Christian.]
§
Why
did Monsignore Montini, who later became a Cardinal and then Pope
Paul VI, turn down the gold medal from the Jewish Community of
Italy? [During the war he headed up the Holy See's Aid to Refugees;
when offered the medal, he replied, "I acted in the line of
duty, and for that I am not entitled to a medal."]
§
To
what cause did Padre Rufino devote his life until his death? [To the
building of Ecumenical House. Note: For Padre Rufino the ecumenical
movement included Christians and Jews although today we usually
refer to ecumenism as a movement of various Christian faiths, and we
use the term "inter-religious dialogue" when speaking of
Christian and non-Christian faiths working together.]
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| Conscience,
vocation,
and ethics
Padre Rufino found himself in a complex world.
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§
How
does Padre Rufino describe the politics of
Assisi
prior to the German occupation of Italy
? [He says that there were Fascists, many of whom were good
Catholics, and you could agree with their views or not according to
your conscience as long as you did not express your objections out
loud. In Assisi
about two thousand people were for Mussolini, two thousand against
him, and the rest--one thousand monks, nuns, and priests--were not
involved in secular affairs.]
§
What
changed that? [In 1943 Mussolini was ousted, the Fascist House and
the Fascist secret police were disbanded, and Italy
signed an armistice with the Allies. The British had landed in Bari
and the Americans in
Salerno. In swift reaction, the troops of the Third Reich stormed into
Rome.]
§
How
does Padre Rufino often describe himself to indicate his humble
origin and connection to the soil? [He says that he is a peasant,
meaning that he comes from the country and lacks the refinement of
an aristocrat.]
§
Why
did Padre Rufino become a priest? [He had a strong religious
vocation, and also he wanted to study. The only way for a poor
Italian to get an education was to become a monk or a priest.]
§
Padre
Rufino has been described as an "earthy" priest? Why might
this be? [He was the only member of his community who smoked; he
enjoyed a good glass of wine shared with friends, he liked to play
checkers with the printer; his language could be somewhat coarse; he
appreciated looking at pretty girls; he was sympathetic to young
lovers; he did not judge his printer friend by his irreverent
comments but rather accepted him as he was and then deeply
appreciated his skill and his action in helping the Jews; he loved
his walks through the city and the country and experienced God's
presence as he walked, understanding that this was also a way of
praying….] Was he a "rogue" priest? [No. He was true to
his vow of obedience, and he faithfully observed the prayer times of
the Church and the Franciscan Order.]
§
How
does Padre Rufino explain what the Franciscans and the Poor Clares
were called to do vis-à-vis the Jews? [He says that they are the
successors of St. Francis and St. Clare respectively, and, as such,
they are called to do more than ordinary people to offer the Jews
protection from their oppressors and thereby help the Lord rebuild a
world of brotherly love in a world filled with hatred.]
§
He
admits to being a sinner--a liar and a cheat--for a good cause. He
says he has made his peace with God and is sure that God forgives
him. Do you agree? How do we distinguish between sinning for a good
cause and simply justifying our own agenda?
§
How
did Padre Rufino respond to the plan to take revenge on Captain von
den Velde, the SS leader who had kept Padre Rufino captive without
food and water for several days and nights and even had him moved to
a place of execution? [Padre Rufino refused to cooperate with those
planning to capture Captain von den Velde, saying that the priests
and monks were there to save lives, not take them. He said that he
was not there to judge who should die, that it was God's decision.]
How does his attitude reflect the position of the Church today on
capital punishment?
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Amazon.com review
The long shadow of Malle's autobiographical memoir of occupied France
continues to fall heavily across subsequent representations of World War II,
boarding school, and male adolescence--in fact, it would be difficult to
identify a recent film that addresses these concerns and does not, in some
substantial way, echo Au Revoir les enfants. The straightforward,
unsentimental, gutsy Enfants finds its 12-year-old protagonist,
Julien Quentin, sheltered from the conflict in a Catholic school. His
classmate Jean, a new arrival, becomes first a competitor, then a beloved
friend. Jean, however, hides a secret from his classmates and the Gestapo;
evenly, subtly, Malle creates an atmosphere of hovering and inescapable
danger. It won't take you more than a few frames to guess Jean's
"secret," and many of the plot points here are too telescoped.
Nevertheless, the plainspoken courage with which Malle tells his story
remains wholly engrossing. The cinematography here is masterful and drunk
with childlike wonder, alternating claustrophobic, wood-paneled church
interiors with vivid, occasionally frightening outdoor vistas. And never is
it more affecting than in the chilling scene where Justin gets lost in the
woods during a seemingly innocent game of capture-the-treasure; trees and
rocks flash by the running boy with an austere, impersonal beauty. Winner of
seven Cesars (the French Oscars) in 1987, including Best Picture. It's in
French, with subtitles; but don't let that scare you away. --Miles
Bethany
Product Description
Based on events from writer-director Louis Malle’s own childhood, Au
revoir les enfants is the tragic story of friendship and devastating
loss between two boys at a Catholic board-school in Nazi-occupied France.
Julien befriends Jean, and the two precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie
until Jean’s secret—that he is a Jew being hid by sympathetic
priests—is revealed. Subtly and precisely observed, the film is a tale of
cowardice and courage and ultimately heartbreaking awakening into adulthood.
Reviewer:
Dennis Littrell
This
is a masterpiece of cinema, a work of genius by the late great Louis Malle.
Would that we had another like him! As in Le
souffle au coeur (1971) Malle (apparently) reprises part of his
childhood for us, recalling everything with the barest touch, just the
slightest emphasis, without rancor or any loading of the deck. He
understates and plays fair always. He has complete control of his story as
he gently guides the audience. He knows what they believe and what they
expect. He respects that, but he doesn't cater, and he is very gentle about
leading us to the conclusion. He makes it beautiful although it is horrible.
Gaspard
Manesse as Julien and Raphael Fejto as Jean are unforgettable and a reminder
that in film it's important to have a good cast. Yet, I suspect Malle could
have made geniuses of any number of talented boys in their roles. This is
your Catholic boys' school coming of age film without lecherous priests or
the brutality of children; that is, no more than is necessary, just what is
real and seen in perspective, the context being the Nazi occupation of
France in 1944. It is amazing how Malle manages to show the bestiality and
brain dead stupidity of the Nazis by presenting them at their most gentle.
If one can damn by faint praise, one can destroy by contrast. Compared to
what is human and natural we see the Nazis, as their pretentious Reich is
falling apart, chasing after children, obsessed with psychotic racist
delusions. Through the objective eyes of the children we see the evil. Malle
need only let the events speak for themselves.
I
think artists working in any medium would benefit from a study of this film.
(An excellent American film by Malle also worth study is the fascinating
Atlantic City (1980) starring Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon.) What
Malle's technique teaches us is to be honest, to be fair, and to keep it
simple, but not too simple. Use not a brush stroke more than necessary, and
pay attention to every detail, especially the small ones. But while we can
learn from and appreciate, it takes genius to pull it off. It can't be done
by connecting the dots.
I
am struck by a little irony on the jacket of the video. It has an early
Siskel and Ebert quote: "One of the year's best films." That's a
little embarrassing unless the year is a hundred years long.
Incidentally,
the sublime and beautiful Irène Jacob, who later became a protégée of
Krzysztof Kieslowski in La Double vie
de Véronique (1991) and Trois
Couleurs: Rouge (1994), made her debut here in a small part as a piano
teacher.
Chicago
Times:
The film was written and directed by Louis Malle, who based it on a
childhood memory. Judging by the tears I saw streaming down his face on the
night the film was shown at the Telluride Film Festival, the memory has
caused him pain for many years. His story takes place in 1944, in a Catholic
boarding school in Nazi-occupied
France. At the start of a new semester, three new students are enrolled, and we
realize immediately that they are Jews, disguised with new names and
identities in an attempt to hide them from the Nazis.
To Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse), however, this is not at all obvious.
Julien, who is intended to be Malle's autobiographical double, does not
quite understand all of the distinctions involving Jews and Gentiles in a
country run by Nazis. All he knows is that he likes one of the new boys,
Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejto), and they become friends. Jean is not popular
with the other students, who follow the age-old schoolboy practice of
closing ranks against newcomers. But then, Julien is not very popular,
either. The two boys are a little dreamy and thoughtful, absorbed in
themselves and their imaginations, as bright adolescents should be.
Malle's film is not filled with a lot of dramatic incidents. Unlike such
roughly comparable Hollywood films as The
Lords of Discipline, it feels no need for strong plotting and lots of
dramatic incidents leading up to the big finale. Instead, we enter the daily
lives of these boys. We see the classroom routine, the air-raid drills, the
way each teacher has his own way of dealing with problems of discipline.
More than anything else, we get a feeling for the rhythm of the school.
Malle has said that when, years later, he visited the site of the boarding
school he attended, he found the building had disappeared and the school
forgotten. But to a student enrolled in such a school, the rules and rituals
seem timeless, handed down by innumerable generations and destined to
survive forever. A schoolboy cannot be expected to understand how swiftly
violence and evil can strike out and change everything.
Julien and Jean play together, study together, look at dirty postcards
together. One day - one of those cold, early spring days when the shadows
seem ominous and there is an unsettling wind in the trees - they go
exploring in a nearby forest and darkness falls. They get lost, or almost
lost, and they weather this adventure and become even closer friends. One
day, Julien accidentally discovers that Jean Bonnet is not his friend's real
name. A few days later, when Julien's mother comes to visit, he invites Jean
to join them at lunch in a local restaurant, and they witness an
anti-Semitic incident as a longtime local customer is singled out because he
is Jewish.
That is about all the input that Julien receives, and it is hard to say
exactly what he knows, or suspects, about Jean. But when Nazis visit the
school, Julien performs in one tragic second an action that will haunt him
for the rest of his days. Malle has said the incident in Au
revoir les enfants does not exactly parallel what happened in real life,
but the point must be the same: In an unthinking moment, action is taken
that never can be retrieved.
Is the film only about guilt? Not at all. It is constructed very subtly to
show that Julien only half realized the nature of the situation, anyway. It
isn't as if Julien knew absolutely that Jean was Jewish. It's more as if
Julien possessed a lot of information that he had never quite put together,
and when the Nazis came looking for hidden Jews, Julien suddenly realized
what his information meant. The moment in which he makes his tragic mistake
is also, perhaps, the moment when he comprehends for the first time the
shocking fact of racism.
Orion Classics presents a film written, directed and produced by Louis Malle.
Photographed by Renato Berta. Edited by Emmanuelle Castro. In French with
English subtitles. Running time: 103 minutes. Classified PG. At the Fine
Arts.
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