In Our Own Hands (1998)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Chuck Olin

Writers:

Chuck Olin (writer)
Matthew Palm (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | War

Plot:

The story of the only all-Jewish fighting force in World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Palestine | Israel | Holocaust | Italy | Refugee

Cast

Peter Thomas	...	Narrator (voice)
Mike Nussbaum	...	(voice)
Nicholas Rudall	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arie Amir	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Ted Arison	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Izhak Bar-On	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Hanoch Bartov	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Moshe Bejski	...	Himself (Holocaust survivor) (as Dr. Moshe Bejski)
Adinah Ben-David	...	Herself (wife)
David Ben-David	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Gideon Ben-Israel	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Israel Carmy	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Lisa Derman	...	Herself (Holocaust survivor)
Edmund L. de Rothschild	...	Himself (British officer, Jewish Brigade)
Meir de Shalit	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Oly Givon	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Cyril Goodman	...	Himself (British officer, Jewish Brigade) (as Cyril 'Benny' Goodman)
Chanan Greenwald	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Aharon Hoter-Ishay	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Mark Hyatt	...	Himself (British officer, Jewish Brigade)
Rinna Irmay	...	Herself (Holocaust survivor)
Maxim Kahan	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Gabriel Knoller	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Netanel Lorch	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Shimon Mazé	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Pavel Mozes	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Johanan Peltz	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Arie Pinchuk	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Shaul Ramati	...	Himself (British officer, Jewish Brigade)
Shlomo Shamir	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Alex Shore	...	Himself (Holocaust survivor)
Avram Silberstein	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
David Spector	...	Himself (British officer, Jewish Brigade)
Adin Talbar	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade)
Avraham Uzieli	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade) (as Avraham 'Uzi' Uzieli)
Meir Zorea	...	Himself (Jewish Brigade) (as Meir 'Zarro' Zorea)

Also Known As:

The Hidden Story of the Jewish Brigade in World War II (USA) (subtitle)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Olin-Cooper Productions

Movie Connections:

Features Triumph des Willens (1935)

Recommended documentary on pre-1948 Jewish pride

I'm not of the generation to have lived through the events shown in this documentary but I am aware of the ongoing need to see History for what it is! 2002 "Political Correctness" weighs Israeli Jewish sentiments as of equal accord with Palestinian regrets and sore-loser status over the 1948 granting of a Mandate by Britain and the United Nations. How wrongheaded such historical "Know-Nothing"-ism looks in the bright sunlight of day! This documentary that was shown today (April 28, 2002) at our PBS affiliate keeps perspective on the daring and audacity of committed Jews who were part of the WW II forces to defeat Nazism and Fascist totalitarianism. When the Second World War is glossed over as something that "happened" to six million Jews, the impression that's left isn't always of a positive nature. Even though the fighting men (of quite a range, really)who tell their stories from that horrendous world conflict are an unusual minority among veterans, this aspect of a unified Jewish brigade deserves our consideration as much as does as that of a "Friend of Israel" like Oskar Schindler and his much-heralded "List." Thanks, filmmakers and producers for this job of showing 50 years later how the courage of common people stopped the NAZI killing machine in its tracks. There's no cynicism or snide remarks about conspiratorial machinations allowed in this production; no complaints given its documentary vision from this viewer. 10 *'s in my humble opinion.